Japan's Galapagos Syndrome shows signs of globalization
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The assumption of many is that the Japanese games industry, and indeed that of much of Asia, is a unique, indecipherable entity compared to the more easily understood and integrated dynamics of gaming in Western countries.
Mobile gaming has a foothold around the world, but the rise of gacha gaming in Japan in particular feels unparalleled to trends witnessed elsewhere, where many major franchises like Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, which developer CyGames announced had earned a cumulative revenue of $2 billion in less than two years following its 2021 launch, almost entirely a product of domestic spend bar a small launch in South Korea.
With headlines such as this dominating, it’s easy to assume that the industry in Japan exists in a unique state disconnected from the trends of the globe, embracing a Galapagos Syndrome symbolic to other domestic technological developments like the flip phone prior to the smartphone revolution or the insistent continued use of the fax machine.
While the perception of Japanese games development as a declining powerhouse has been disproven in the wake of high-quality releases from the likes of Capcom and From Software, plus the turnaround of Nintendo's fortunes following the launch of the Nintendo Switch, one assumption that perseveres is the reputation of the country as a mobile gaming capital that has otherwise relegated console gaming to the confines of history. It's understandable when headlines paint success stories of the country as one of the highest-grossing mobile gaming markets in the world, and not even necessarily inaccurate — it's only behind the US and China in terms of consumer spending.
"Most parents think that smartphone gaming is not that good compared to console gaming because with consoles they can check what games are being played"
Yet it obscures the truth of an industry in flux. As mobile revenues stall in an increasingly saturated industry, so do
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