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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Overseas sales of Japanese entertainment grew from 4.68 to 5.77 trillion yen (over $38 billion) in 2023, which is an increase of over 1 trillion yen ($6.6 billion) compared to the previous year). This is according to a report published by Japanese market database Human Media on December 3 (via PR Times).

While 2022 was already a record-breaking year for the Japanese content industry, which generated a revenue comparable to the country’s steel industry, it seems 2023 brought the largest leap in profits to date. The graph below shows the progressive yearly growth of overseas sales from 2012 to 2023.

What stands out in this report is that most of the growth is attributed to the success of console games and anime (colored blue and light green respectively on the graph), whereas content such as live-action films, TV programs and even manga “remained flat.” Moreover, sales of mobile and PC games reportedly declined compared to the previous year.

The report accounts for profit coming from licensing, distribution via overseas subsidiaries, as well as e-commerce from Japan to overseas. Data related to music content is not accounted for.

On a related note, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has positioned anime and video games at the core of its strategy to quadruple the market value of Japan’s content industry by 2033. To this end, the government is drawing up an action plan to further the development of these industries, which includes things like improving working conditions for creators.

Overseas sales of Japanese content increased by over 1 trillion yen in 2023, carried primarily by console games and anime - AUTOMATON WEST

A report on overseas sales of Japanese entertainment suggests that console games and anime grew greatly in 2023 while film and manga remained "flat"

automaton-media.com

 

[mansoor1980]

PCMR/mobile in shambles ...................
consoles 4 life
japanese developers forever

 

[Shtof]

Look at the highest rated games in the last 10 years - they are either 1) AAA or AA japanese games, 2) Western indie games, 3) Playstation exclusives made in the West.
This holds true with very few exceptions.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[Felessan]

To the note - it's predominantly online games. I am a little lost what titles contribute to it.

 

[Isa]

I'm interested in seeing how 2024 does as it seemed even more prevalent. I've gotten a bunch of manga, a few figures, a ton of doujin art/manga/hentai, old TV shows(Sakuban Dekas, Space Sheriff Shaider). Honestly its great to see and I hope the future holds more success for the people of that beautiful nation.

 

[mèx]

Weebs saving the Japanese economy. Good job!

 

[Bernardougf]

Yeah being playing more and more Asian titles since last year .... something in modern western gaming is not clicking with my tastes ... I wonder what it is

 

[Mayar]

While Western developers are in decline and making some kind of incomprehensible nonsense with games, Asia has been practically carrying the entire industry on its back this entire year.
Therefore, the result is not at all surprising.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Weebs saving the Japanese economy. Good job!

Don't let NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt hear you say that word cuz he gets triggered by it.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Don't let NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt hear you say that word cuz he gets triggered by it.

Weebs are awesome

 

[Mayar]

Weebs are awesome

 

[Killjoy-NL]

While Western developers are in decline and making some kind of incomprehensible nonsense with games, Asia has been practically carrying the entire industry on its back this entire year.
Therefore, the result is not at all surprising.

Then again, the console-market is carried by Playstation, which is Western focused nowadays.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Weebs are awesome

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Then again, the console-market is carried by Playstation, which is Western focused nowadays.

Capcom, Square-Enix, Atlus, FromSoftware, etc are all over Playstation. Even Konami now. We also got Stellar Blade (Korea) and Rise of the Ronin (Japan) there this year.
What are the 3rd party game releases from the east that aren't coming out on Playstation?

Not just Japan but also Korea. Everyone calls PlayStation GashaStation for a reason. All games are available there.

 

[Mayar]

Then again, the console-market is carried by Playstation, which is Western focused nowadays.

Well, that's not quite true, if we take software sales, Nintendo sells significantly more games than Sony. And this is despite the general trend of declining sales of the Switch console itself, all over the world =)

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Well, that's not quite true, if we take software sales, Nintendo sells significantly more games than Sony. And this is despite the general trend of declining sales of the Switch console itself, all over the world =)

But the industry is more than just software sales:

"
Key Players in the Global Gaming Consoles Market Statistics
Three major brands primarily dominate the global gaming console market.
PlayStation holds the largest market share at 45%, underscoring its strong position and popularity among consumers.
Nintendo follows with a significant share of 27%, reflecting its enduring appeal and innovative offerings.
Xbox captures 23% of the market, indicating a solid presence and loyal customer base.
Other brands collectively account for the remaining 5% of the market. Highlighting the competitive landscape within the gaming console industry."

Gaming Console Statistics 2024 By Games, Performance, Quality

Gaming Console Statistics: A gaming console is a specialized device designed for playing video games, available in several types...

www.news.market.us

 

[Mayar]

But the industry is more than just software sales:

"
Key Players in the Global Gaming Consoles Market Statistics
Three major brands primarily dominate the global gaming console market.
PlayStation holds the largest market share at 45%, underscoring its strong position and popularity among consumers.
Nintendo follows with a significant share of 27%, reflecting its enduring appeal and innovative offerings.
Xbox captures 23% of the market, indicating a solid presence and loyal customer base.
Other brands collectively account for the remaining 5% of the market. Highlighting the competitive landscape within the gaming console industry."

Gaming Console Statistics 2024 By Games, Performance, Quality

Gaming Console Statistics: A gaming console is a specialized device designed for playing video games, available in several types...

www.news.market.us

In terms of market control, yes, Sony is still on top, this generation was extremely successful for them, most likely Nintendo will bite off a little more from them at the beginning of next year due to the release of Switch 2, but I think in terms of the market they will remain the leaders, the gap will just shrink. Although everything will of course depend on the price that Nintendo asks for Switch 2, the cheaper the more they will take a piece from Sony =)

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Capcom, Square-Enix, Atlus, FromSoftware, etc are all over Playstation. Even Konami now. We also got Stellar Blade (Korea) and Rise of the Ronin (Japan) there this year.
What are the 3rd party game releases from the east that aren't coming out on Playstation?

Not just Japan but also Korea. Everyone calls PlayStation GashaStation for a reason. All games are available there.

Sure, but what are the most played games on Playstation?

Out of the top 20 most played games on PS5, 19 are Western games.

https://newzoo.com/resources/rankings/top-ps5-games

Playstation Studios consists of mostly Western studios.

 

[Sakura]

It looks like most of the growth is driven by online console games. What games is this referring to? Is a game with online functionality counted here, like Elden Ring or something?

 

[lh032]

thats not true.
Console gaming is dying

 

[Killjoy-NL]

In terms of market control, yes, Sony is still on top, this generation was extremely successful for them, most likely Nintendo will bite off a little more from them at the beginning of next year due to the release of Switch 2, but I think in terms of the market they will remain the leaders, the gap will just shrink. Although everything will of course depend on the price that Nintendo asks for Switch 2, the cheaper the more they will take a piece from Sony =)

True, I think there will be healthy competition between Playstation and Nintendo.
They can coexist and both be successfull.

 

[Mayar]

True, I think there will be healthy competition between Playstation and Nintendo.
They can coexist and both be successfull.

Nintendo has effectively squeezed Sony out of the Japanese market, Sony still has sales there, but not nearly as much as they would like, if Switch 2 has a suitable price they can finally squeeze Sony out of Japan, it is the second largest market after the US, and then they just need to build on their success in the US market and create competition there. Everything will depend entirely on them. That's why I think 2025-26 will be very interesting, it's not for nothing that rumors about portable consoles from Sony and Microsoft have started to spread, it's a reaction to Nintendo's growing expansion

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Nintendo has effectively squeezed Sony out of the Japanese market, Sony still has sales there, but not nearly as much as they would like, if Switch 2 has a suitable price they can finally squeeze Sony out of Japan, it is the second largest market after the US, and then they just need to build on their success in the US market and create competition there. Everything will depend entirely on them. That's why I think 2025-26 will be very interesting, it's not for nothing that rumors about portable consoles from Sony and Microsoft have started to spread, it's a reaction to Nintendo's growing expansion

It will definitely be interesting to see what will happen.

But honestly, I think Xbox can be left out. They're irrelevant as a competitor.

 

[Mayar]

It will definitely be interesting to see what will happen.

But honestly, I think Xbox can be left out. They're irrelevant as a competitor.

They are doing well, they said it themselves - All consoles and devices are Xbox so they are happy with the results

 

[Felessan]

Well, that's not quite true, if we take software sales, Nintendo sells significantly more games than Sony. And this is despite the general trend of declining sales of the Switch console itself, all over the world =)

You are mixing Sony/Nintendo and Playstation/Switch here.
Nintendo rely on their own games and sold more of them. Sony relies on 3rd party and it's 3rd party that maintain success/market control of playstation.

most likely Nintendo will bite off a little more from them at the beginning of next year due to the release of Switch 2

Next year will do nothing as early sales of Switch2 will be from migration from Switch and not new people

Nintendo has effectively squeezed Sony out of the Japanese market, Sony still has sales there, but not nearly as much as they would like, if Switch 2 has a suitable price they can finally squeeze Sony out of Japan

It has nothing to do with Nintendo. Nintendo themselves just hiding in a corner against mobile market.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Nintendo has effectively squeezed Sony out of the Japanese market, Sony still has sales there, but not nearly as much as they would like, if Switch 2 has a suitable price they can finally squeeze Sony out of Japan, it is the second largest market after the US, and then they just need to build on their success in the US market and create competition there. Everything will depend entirely on them. That's why I think 2025-26 will be very interesting, it's not for nothing that rumors about portable consoles from Sony and Microsoft have started to spread, it's a reaction to Nintendo's growing expansion

What do you mean "squeeze Sony out of Japan"? Japan is PS5's 2nd or 3rd biggest market in hardware sales lmao. Yes it's not doing Switch numbers but let's not pretending it's not an important market for Sony.

 

[Mayar]

You are mixing Sony/Nintendo and Playstation/Switch here.
Nintendo rely on their own games and sold more of them. Sony relies on 3rd party and it's 3rd party that maintain success/market control of playstation.


Next year will do nothing as early sales of Switch2 will be from migration from Switch and not new people


It has nothing to do with Nintendo. Nintendo themselves just hiding in a corner against mobile market.

We will see what will happen next year, I just stated my assumptions, nothing more, I am not an analyst and I am not nominating for this position.
And no one is hiding from the mobile market, it is physically impossible to hide from it, let's say so while consoles are fighting wars with PCs, the mobile market is slowly devouring both of them, and so far no one can stop it.
And financiers only predict its growth until 2027, that is, they expect that the mobile market will put even more pressure on consoles and PCs in the coming years.

 

[Mayar]

What do you mean "squeeze Sony out of Japan"? Japan is PS5's 2nd or 3rd biggest market in hardware sales lmao. Yes it's not doing Switch numbers but let's not pretending it's not an important market for Sony.

I wrote that they have sales there, but I am more than sure that they would like a much better result. You can basically go and see all the sales through Famitsu

1. Switch OLED Model – 48,373 (8,261,305)
2. Switch Lite – 14,432 (6,232,233)
3. PlayStation 5 Pro – 10,128 (102,092)
4. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 9,346 (877,915)
5. Switch – 6,330 (19,950,011)
6. PlayStation 5 – 6,099 (5,277,120)

If you add up all the versions of PS5 including PRO which just came out, you will get 25,573
But they manage to sell 48,373 Switch OLEDs in Japan, which is almost twice as many as all the PS5s combined (and we haven't even added the other Switch versions), despite the fact that the console is actually at the end of its life cycle. And I don't think Sony is happy with this picture.

 

[Felessan]

We will see what will happen next year, I just stated my assumptions, nothing more, I am not an analyst and I am not nominating for this position.
And no one is hiding from the mobile market, it is physically impossible to hide from it, let's say so while consoles are fighting wars with PCs, the mobile market is slowly devouring both of them, and so far no one can stop it.
And financiers only predict its growth until 2027, that is, they expect that the mobile market will put even more pressure on consoles and PCs in the coming years.

Actually it stopped devour in terms of stealing playerbase and started to converge and Playstation is the biggest winner of it currently.
The rise of Starrail & co might even propel PS to old heights in Japan if/when we finally see a proper AAA mobile made in Japan.

 

[Mayar]

Actually it stopped devour in terms of stealing playerbase and started to converge and Playstation is the biggest winner of it currently.
The rise of Starrail & co might even propel PS to old heights in Japan if/when we finally see a proper AAA mobile made in Japan.

I'm not interested in console wars in principle, I have all consoles and I play both Sony and Nintendo games. So I'll be a winner in any situation
As for the mobile market, whatever will be will be, either it will eventually devour everything alive, or it will burst like a bubble.

 

[Felessan]

As for the mobile market, whatever will be will be, either it will eventually devour everything alive, or it will burst like a bubble.

Mobile games will eat most of the pie and other will be a new "wargames"
But consoles as hardware medium will be just fine
Take Fortnite for example - it is a mobile game. But it mostly played on Playstation. Mobile makes games popular and accessible - you can play anywhere anytime on a device always at hand. But home consoles provide superior experience - big screen, comphy chair, precise control and enchanced IQ.
So games that support cross play, and AAA mobile go into this direction - they are played on the go, but at home phone is put away and play continued on consoles/PC.