Dango Inc. about the Japanese mobile games market
Our portal in an exclusive interview discussed the situation on the Japanese mobile games market with Jun Sasaki, creative director of Dango Inc.
June SasakiInstant messaging services are becoming an increasingly popular means of promotion, which is due to their prevalence in Japan and South Korea.
Tell us about them: how easy is it to integrate them into applications? What kind of growth in downloads and revenue can we expect after that?LINE is the most popular (and possibly the only successful) smartphone messaging service in Japan.
However, it is extremely difficult for developers to use this tool to promote their applications. The LINE team reviews certain games that meet special standards, which means that only those games that meet the necessary requirements can appear there.
However, developers can send messages via LINE, as there is an open API for this.
Are European Games popular in Japan?Clash of Clans is currently ranked 3rd in the country’s box office top.
Candy Crush Saga also did not go unnoticed.
What changes need to be made to the game to make it popular in Japan? Do I need to adapt all graphic works?In order for the game to win the love of Japanese users, its characters must have a so-called “moe” (one of the types of attractiveness).
If European developers can correctly convey this quality, the popularity of their game in Japan is guaranteed. Japanese gamers don’t really like PvP. But they are very fond of Tetris.
Magimon is one of the projects promoted by DangoWhat genres of mobile games are most popular in the Japanese market?
– Simple games (puzzles, etc.), which are very common on LINE;
– moe-games whose characters are mostly girls;
– card strategies;
– Puzzle & Dragons is extremely popular.
What is the first thing your gamers pay attention to when downloading a game? What is the most important thing?- Recommendations of friends;
– registration;
– the icon of the game with the face of the main character.
How do Japanese players differ from European and American players in terms of the duration of gaming sessions and their frequency?Games with short sessions are very popular in Japan.
For example, one game session should be completed during the time the train travels the distance from one station to another (about 1-3 minutes).
There are many fans of casual games in Japan. The uniqueness of the Japanese market lies in the fact that our ARPU (average revenue per user) is 3 times higher than in the USA.
Goddess ChronicleWhich scenario works better in Japan: “soft” monetization, when the user can pay for various attributes if he wants, or “hard”, when he has to pay to continue the game?
If we talk about card butlers, players usually pay for how the cards look.
In this case, it doesn’t even matter what potential they have.
Japanese gamers avoid the harsh need to pay for certain opportunities, so the monetization strategy should be well balanced.
Which of the things that foreign developers who launch a game in Japan face is the most difficult? How can a local publisher help?The artistic style is very important, perhaps Western developers will have to take into account the need to adapt it specifically for Japan.
According to your estimates, what is the volume of the mobile games market in Japan (iOS and Android)? How much income can a game that hits the top twenty box office bring?For example, Puzzle & Dragons, which now occupies 1st place in the box office top, brings in over $ 120 million.
However, there is a big gap between the 1st and 2nd place. Games 2 through 10 probably make several million dollars a month. Titles in the 50th positions earn about $ 20 thousand, in the 100th – about $ 10 thousand.
