General numbers
- Mobile games in Japan earned $6.8B in the first half of 2023. It’s 11% lower than a year before.
- iOS revenue drop by 10%; Android decreased by 14%.
- Downloads went down too – to 300M (-6% YoY). The decline is solely of iOS’s underperformance as Android stayed flat.
The most successful titles
- Monster Strike from MIXI is the leader in H1 2023 by revenue. The game earned $350M during this period.
- Uma Musume Pretty Derby was second; its worldwide revenue in March 2023 exceeded $2B.
- 6 games in the top 10 have been released more than 5 years before.
- 7 games in the top 10 are from Japanese publishers.
- Blue Rock Project: World Champion is the best title by downloads in Japan in H1 2023. It’s based on the soccer manga Blue Rock.
Growing projects
- Honkai: Star Rail is the leader in revenue and downloads.
- Victory Goddess: Nikke is second by this parameter.
Most successful publishers
- CyberAgent, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and Square Enix are leaders in the Japanese market by revenue.
- Tencent stepped to the top-10 rating in H1 2023; miHoYo went up by two positions thanks to the great release of Honkai: Star Rail.
