Monetizing Online Games in Japan
Japanese games have historically made heads spin regardless of the country. Although handheld consoles have taken these games into the 21st century with great graphics, the real and unseen revolution has lain in the incorporation of collaborative games. One of the most successful handheld games with its own ecosystem was Pokemon. At its core, it was a single-player game card for kids but – ingeniously – included the ability to share or transfer ownership of in-game creatures. Extending this ability to internet games has been a real money maker.
Monetizing in-game commodities has been a moneymaker, with several MMORPG and browser-based social games profiting from in-game transactions far more than their US counterparts.
Monetization works best in Japan because the target market never seems to shrink, regardless of the docile state f the rest of the economy. Japanese online spending is particularly high. This translates to the Japanese having the second highest online spending per capita in the world.
Related to the individual wealth and spending habits is the ease with which the Japanese can spend on online games. Japan has a higher than 99% 3G telephony coverage, and almost everyone has access to mobile games. Handsets (both smartphones and feature phones) have apps pre-installed allowing for mobile payment. Most feature phones have built-in apps for paying train and bus tickets, paid as part of the monthly billing statement.
Japan is a gaming nation, as can be seen on television game shows. Among the most popular games are social card games like Pokemon which have tie-ups to anime and manga and are thus self-promoting. Up to 70% of the most popular games are social card games.
The increasing popularity of social card games and the ease with which these can be distributed via mobile phones has shifted marketing strategies among major video game makers. These companies have also introduced social card game apps.
For outsiders, there is still a sizable challenge when entering the Japanese gaming market – huge knowledge gaps currently exist (and which articles on this website are hopefully filling in!) Japan-based firms such as GMO Cloud are best-placed to offer marketing advice and started to offer localization aid the entry of these foreign companies.
With tie-ups on intellectual property holdings and established distribution channels, mobile games will continue to boom. The Japanese willingness to pay for games and level-ups means it remains as lucrative as ever for foreign-based firms with the right localized, culturalized approach.
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About the Guest Author:
Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To know more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.
