This article is about some characteristics and development trends of the Japanese mobile game market in 22 years. Friends who feel helpful please leave a thumbs up. This series is based on the market research articles scattered on the Japanese Internet, edited and integrated. I don't know how far it can go.,I hope the part that has been serialized can be a reference for you.。
The Japanese mobile game market in 2022 is showing many signs of change.
First of all, looking at the overall figures, in 2022, the annual revenue decreased by 18% compared to the previous year to 14.7 billion yen, returning to the pre-COVID level of 2019. In terms of downloads, there was a 10% decrease from the previous year, and even lower than the level of 2019.
Data source
After talking about the macro numbers, let's take a look at the noteworthy characteristics of the Japanese mobile game market in 2022.
First, let's take a look at the top 20 downloads. Downloads usually indicate how much attention a game has received during the year, often signaling new changes in the mobile gaming market.
The trend towards "expansive experiences".
The first place is "プロジェクトセカイ カラフルステージ! feat.Hatsune ミク" (World Project Colorful Stage feat.Hatsune Miku). This is a game of music rhythm x cultivation x Hatsune IP, with many past classics and popular music libraries. But it also has a very special feature, which we will talk about later.
This game was launched in 2020, with 12 in 2021, 5 in 2021, and then in 2022 it became the 1st in the year.
The fourth-place "ONE PIECE バウンティラッシュ" (One Piece: Bounty Hunter) is a 4v4 action battle game that clearly uses a top anime IP. It is worth mentioning that when the movie "One Piece: Red-Haired Singer" was released, this game was also linked. Contains the movie version of Luffy, the movie character Uta (Uta), and a 95-draw ticket. This is one of the examples of the game's experiential expansion outside of the game.
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202208/08271452.html
In seventh place, "遊戯王マスターデュエル" (Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel, card game), "Genshin Impact" in eighth place, "ヘブンバーンズレッド" in ninth place (Heaven Burns Red, a game of Key Society and WFS, keyword Jun Asaeda), and "Apex Legends Mobile" in 14th place, although they have different game types, they all have developed multiple versions of the game. In addition to the obvious expansion of the game's users of the same game IP, the multi-terminal version, especially the expansion of the PC version, is also particularly conducive to the live operation of the game, which means that it is easier to spread on social networks.
https://note.com/mottoi/n/n75e162e936c2
Music development games and virtual live
Let's go back to the first place, the World Plan.
Project World is a well-known music rhythm game with an exploding library of songs and the IP of Hatsune Miku. But as I mentioned earlier, this game also has a feature: "コネクトライブ" (CONNECT LIVE)
In the game, when the story reaches its climax, players can watch the characters perform a virtual music live performance through another game system called "バーチャルライブ" (Virtual Live). A virtual performance like this, with its movement design and choreography, is naturally set up. Players gather in a room to watch a pre-programmed 3D animation.
In contrast, there is another system in the game, which is called "CONNECT LIVE". It's almost like moving a real-life concert performance to the virtual world. In CONNECT LIVE, a character may perform a song that does not have a music video in the game, and some songs that were originally only available in a short version in the game will also be performed in full version. In addition, the characters and the host will even respond to the reactions of the fans gathered at the concert site and give feedback on the spot. In other words, it's a move from a real-life concert to a virtual setting.
In addition, unlike the free Virtual Live, CONNECT LIVE is charged, and you need to purchase a ticket.
游戏的第1次公演「ConnectLive Vivid BAD SQUAD 1st CRASH」在2022年6月11日举行。 在此之前还进行过2次彩排公演。 Adhesive, 2nd performance "Connect Live 2nd ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL STAGE" 在2022年10月9日举行。
Even, these performances are still selling physical merchandise.
This has simply forced the game company into a music entertainment company.
The enlightenment of this example is that in addition to the expansion of multiple platforms and the linkage of various types of content, in 22 years, there may be more ways to externalize and expand the experience beyond the game itself. This will be a very noteworthy place.
https://projectsekai.fandom.com/wiki/Project_SEKAI_Connect_Live_2nd_ANNIVERSARY_SPECIAL_STAGE
At the cutting edge of in-game virtual live! Behind the scenes of "Connect Live", which seemed to reproduce the actual live performance in the "Proseka" app, was "the actual live performance itself"
游戏实况和实况游戏（Live Game）
As mentioned earlier, when talking about multi-platform expansion, the expansion of the PC platform is a good boost to the explosion of live video and games on social networks.
In fact, there were some more in-depth explorations of social network x games in '22. One of the most typical examples is the so-called "Live Game" category. One of the most representative in this category is the live game platform "Mirrativ" operated by "Co., Ltd. ミラティブ" (address: Tokyo Meguro-ku, legal representative: Hayabichi Akakawa), and the cooperative game "Prices&Knight" (Pricess&Knight) operated by DeNA and ミラティブ at the end of February 2023.
The Mirrativ platform currently has more than 1 million downloads and 69,800 reviews on Google. It has 54,000 reviews on the Apple platform, ranking 10th among social apps. This platform combines live streaming and gaming experience into one, allowing live streamers to play and live directly within the app. Fans who watch the stream can provide prop assistance to the streamer to help them get through the game when they get stuck.
Pricess & Knight is a game where live streamers can team up with fans watching live broadcasts to challenge the fantasy world of RPGs. All the enemies will come at the streamer, and the fans will defend the streamer as "Knight". In addition, in co-op multiplayer, HP can also be shared with companions. This is a game mode that cooperates with each other to complete levels. In addition, fans who did not participate in the party can give the team an attack potion or a recovery potion to help the team overcome difficulties.
Mirativ Inc.
In a world where traffic acquisition is becoming more and more expensive, any publisher knows that they need to integrate their games with social networks as much as possible. But this attempt to merge social networks and games into one goes further. Maybe we can see more of this trend in '23.
To sum it up
Among the various changes in 2022, we can see the following harbingers of changes in the Japanese mobile game market:
- Mobile games are not only mobile games, but also seek the expansion and expansion of player experience in addition to mobile games. These extensions may include more "traditional" video and game linkages, more ways of adapting to social media and more ways of combining social media, and expanding to "metaverse-like" experiences, such as virtual concerts.
- Expansion also includes the use of multi-terminal expansion for more games, which can not only expand the audience of a game IP, but also attract more live broadcasters to conduct live broadcasts more conveniently and spread on social networks.
With the disappearance of the new crown dividend and the pressure brought by the economic recession, the growth of the mobile game market has fallen into a recession that is rare in 10 years. In the future, there may be unpredictable new means and new ways to play, and new business and profit models will emerge to achieve good results in this cruel era.