Japan has historically been known as a country whose games industry has been driven by domestic developers and hardware, as well as mobile, but that may be changing. While PC has been growing globally, according to a new industry report, its rise has been particularly notable in the Japanese market, where revenue has grown over 234 percent to record levels in just the last four years.
Typically in the past, it’s been console games on hardware from Nintendo and Sony that have dominated the market in Japan, with even global heavyweights like Microsoft struggling to break through. In recent years, however, there’s been a notable shift as worldwide gaming brands have been able to make more of an impact in the country, with this shift being most notable on PC. As streaming culture has grown through platforms like Twitch and (for Japan) especially YouTube, driven by replayable and content-driven global hits like multiplayer shooters and titles like Minecraft, PC gaming has found an increasing market in the country.
According to a preliminary report from Japan’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), compared to 2021 when domestic PC revenue hit 132.1 billion yen, such revenue in 2025 surpassed 300 billion yen for the first time. Steam’s top games of the year in Japan, in contrast to consoles where Nintendo’s Switch and Switch 2 exclusives dominate, are driven by global free-to-play titles, with Counter-Strike 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and Apex Legends being the three biggest games in terms of revenue. Of the top twelve titles, only Monster Hunter Wilds from Capcom was developed by a Japanese company, with hits like ARC Raiders and Call of Duty also making the list. In terms of playtime, Left 4 Dead 2 was top, followed by Terraria, with DOTA 2 and Stardew Valley also making the list.
While Japan’s overall games industry revenue has increased in recent years, a closer look at the reports shows that it is PC driving almost all of this growth. Comparatively, mobile game revenue has mostly remained stagnant since 2021, growing just 4.5 percent. Console revenue, meanwhile, has fluctuated, though the launch of Switch 2 pushed revenue to an overall growth of 26.7 percent compared to 2021. While mobile remains dominant, accounting for 71 percent of yearly gaming revenue, PC gaming now accounts for 12 percent of Japanese gaming revenue compared to just 6 percent in 2021.
The growth of PC gaming globally has encouraged more and more developers to support the platform, with more Japanese developers releasing games on PC who didn’t previously. While there’s a chance that this trajectory will be impacted by recent AI-driven price increases on key hardware, it shows that Japanese players are increasingly open to titles from around the world, and that younger players especially see the appeal in alternative platforms and games compared to those who came before.
