According to Sensor Tower, unit sales for PC and PlayStation in Japan have increased by 13% to reach 21 million during the first half of 2026, with Resident Evil Requiem being a significant contributor to this growth
Gaming consoles and PCs saw a 13% rise in unit sales, reaching 21 million in Japan in the first half of 2026, with Resident Evil Requiem playing a significant role in this growth.
According to Sensor Tower's latest Japan Game Market Insights report, Capcom emerged as the leading publisher for PC and PlayStation sales. The data focuses on sales through Steam and PlayStation platforms.
The release of Resident Evil Requiem achieved an impressive debut on Steam, with sales reaching approximately 2.6 million units in its first month.
Sensor Tower highlighted the growing significance of Steam for premium Japanese games, allowing Capcom to reach a worldwide player base and expand beyond traditional console markets.
The game saw substantial engagement at launch, with Steam users spending an average of 25 hours, surpassing other titles in the series.
Capcom effectively utilized a Steam page introduced 264 days prior to launch to build anticipation, while also drawing in players from regions like the U.S., China, Japan, and Europe, resulting in long-lasting gameplay engagement.
Resident Evil Requiem achieved sales of over eight million units by July and, alongside Pragmata, significantly contributed to Capcom’s financial performance. Capcom also noted sustained sales from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 2.
The revenue from mobile in-app purchases (IAP) decreased by 5.1% to ¥1.56 trillion ($10 billion), with downloads also dropping by 5.4% to 585 million. Despite this, Japan remained Asia's second-largest mobile gaming market.
Japan's IAP revenue was double that of South Korea's and almost quadruple Taiwan's, as reported by Sensor Tower, with domestic revenue accounting for 65% of the total, compared to 35% from international sources.
Japan-based publishers contributed to 28% of mobile game downloads in the second quarter of 2026. Sensor Tower noted that while this share stabilized, it was still lower than the 32% from the previous year, as foreign publishers increased their foothold in the Japanese market.
In the first half of the year, gaming accounted for $749.7 million in advertising spending and 208 billion impressions, ranking third among Japan's top ad categories.
The top-grossing mobile game from January to July 2026 in Japan was eFootball, followed by Monster Strike, Last War: Survival, and Whiteout Survival.
eFootball's leading position was attributed to Konami's strategy of aligning football-related content with heightened interest from the World Cup period. Dragon Quest Smash/Grow emerged as the top action RPG in terms of IAP revenue during the same timeframe.
Regarding genres, role-playing games (RPGs) led in mobile IAP revenue with 32.8%, while Strategy games took up 23.8%. Puzzle games had the largest share of downloads at 37.8%.