Japan's online gaming industry: An insight

newsonjapan.com -- Sep 14

Having being a pioneer in Technology, especially in Gaming, Japan’s gaming business has withered owing to stiff competition from Western Gaming Developers.

This has made way for other gaming alternatives to becoming popular in Japan. For instance, despite a general belief that Bingo is a sports car showroom or a province in Japan, the game has become a hot favourite as an entertainment option, especially among Women.

A virtual future

To prove its mettle in the world of technology, Japan has started responding to its competitors with the release of a virtual reality headset by Sony. This proves how Japan’s a step ahead in the gaming business, with virtual reality made available to the masses at a pocket friendly price. Some of the biggest names in Japan are investing in this fairly new technology.

Mobile Gaming

Albeit, Japan may not be a leader in the Gaming World, it does constitute a large segment of the world’s mobile games market. With a market dominance of handheld games, in 2014 alone, Japan achieved over $9.6 billion, of which mobile gaming scored about $5.8 billion. Since then, the revenue share has only increased.

As a technologically advanced country, Japan’s smartphone population is quite high which in turn drives the mobile gaming market. Characterised by specific localization and animation of gaming content, which has influenced the gaming business in Japan significantly, there are nearly 70 million gamers in the country. Top names like Sony, Sega, Namco Bandai and Konami, these brands drive a significant revenue share in the Digital Gaming Market in Japan.

Online Gaming

With a significant contribution in the world of technology and gaming in particular, Japan’s position in console gaming may have witnessed a decline, but it still continues to lead in mobile technology. The Japanese gamers are always curious and ready to indulge at any online casino in Japan if there’s more information available to evoke their interest and has the potential to cash in on their desires.

Despite stringent laws re gambling, online gaming in Japan is remanded as tolerable or is to some extent looked down upon just as long as businesses running these sites are outside of Japan. For instance, games like Bingo’s played regularly online in the country and Japan has customized both 100 ball and 75 ball Bingo for its gaming audience.

In the recent times, there’s been a sharp increase from gaming operators with a melee of online casinos, lotto platforms and integrated resorts, aimed at the Japanese gaming industry and as per popular research, there’s enough and more to say that most gaming enthusiasts are preferring multiple gaming options now.

The country also houses Pachinko machines apart from online gaming and gambling options, which is another form of arcade games and in recent times a form of online wagering as well. Albeit, the winnings from such games cannot be monetarily recompensed, owing to the country’s gambling laws, any winnings can be traded for tokens or prizes, which makes Japan a distinct gaming specialist from the rest of the world.