Japan iPhone AppStore: world’s top grossing! iPhone AppStore-Japan “Top Grossing” games ranking

Japan iPhone AppStore: world’s top grossing!

iPhone AppStore-Japan “Top Grossing” games ranking of July 13, 2014:

Japan game market report (398 pages, pdf-file):

Bold figures show rankings in February 2014

  1. No. 1 Puzzle & Dragons by GungHo
  2. No. 2 Monster strike (by Mixi)
  3. No. 3 LINE Disney tsumu tsumu (by LINE Corporation & Disney) (Tsum Tsum) (was rank 23)
  4. No. 4 Brave frontier (by Alim Co Ltd) (was rank 19)
  5. No. 5 Clash of Clans (by Supercell) (was rank 13)
  6. No. 6 Dragon poker (by Asobism Co Ltd) (was rank 17)
  7. No. 7 Tsuri Suta (by GREE) (same rank 7)
  8. No. 8 Sengoku Enbu – KIZNA – (by Sumzap Inc, subsidiary of CyberAgent) (was rank 8)
  9. No. 9 Love life! School Idol Festival (by KLab Inc) (was rank 14)
  10. No. 10 LINE Rangers (by LINE Corporation)
  11. No. 11 Puyo puyo!! Quest (by Sega Corporation) (was rank 9)
  12. No. 12 Dragon Quest Monsters Superlight (by Square Enix) (was rank 3)
  13. No. 13 Ange Vierge – No. 2 Public Morals Committee Member girls battle (by Sega Corporation)
  14. No. 14 Logres of Swords and Sorcery – popular online RPG (by Marvelous Inc.)
  15. No. 15 Pro yakiyu PRIDE (by Colopl Inc) (was rank 6)
  16. No. 16 Merc Storia (by Happy Elements KK)
  17. No. 17 Candy Crush Saga (by King.com Ltd) (was rank 15)
  18. No. 18 OnePiece Treasure Cruise (by Bandai Namco Games)
  19. No. 19 SG GUNDAM GENERATION FRONTIER (by Bandai Namco Games)
  20. No. 20 Summoners War: Sky Arena (by Com2u2 Corp., a South Korean game company)
  21. No. 21 Quiz RPG Witch and black cat quiz (by Colopl) (was rank 2)
  22. No. 22 LINE Pokopang (by LINE Corporation (was rank 5)
  23. No. 23 World soccer collection S (by KONAMI) (was rank 24)
  24. No. 24 Frozen Free Fall (by Disney)
  25. No. 25 Gundam Area wars (by NamcoBandai Games Inc) (was rank 18)

Dropped out of the top 25 since February 2014:

  • February 2014:No. 10 Gunzei RPG aoi no sangokushi (by Colopl)
  • February 2014: No. 11 Bousou retsuden tansha tora (by Donuts Ltd) (a motobicycle race game)
  • February 2014: No. 12 Dragon league X (by Asobism Co Ltd)
  • February 2014: No. 20 Chain cronicle. Original scenario RPG. Chencro (by SEGA Corporation)
  • February 2014: No. 21 LINE Play (by LINE Corporation)
  • February 2014: No. 22 LINE Bubble! (by LINE Corporation)
  • February 2014: No. 25 Hay Day (by Supercell)

AppAnnie showed that in terms of combined iOS AppStore + Google Play revenues, Japan is No. 1 globally, spending more than the USA. Therefore Japan is naturally the No. 1 target globally for many mobile game companies, and quite a few of the top grossing apps in Japan are of foreign origin – can you guess which?!

Japan’s iconic game companies created many game categories – this tradition carries over to mobile gaming now.

Building a business in Japan is not trivial

Many foreign game companies have failed and given up. Foreign game companies that have recently given up in Japan include Zynga and Habbo Hotel. EA has given up twice, and is now undertaking the third entry to Japan. To understand some of the key mistakes foreign companies make in Japan, read our blog about why Vodafone failed in Japan.

Lets have a look at the list of top grossing games in the Apple iOS AppStore today. Out of the 25 top grossing games in the AppStore, quite a few are by foreign originating companies. Can you guess which these are by reading the list above?

Japan is certainly not a “closed market”. It is obvious that Apple does not discriminate in any way against foreign companies in Japan – and neither do Japanese consumers!

Interestingly, neither Nintendo, nor Rovio’s games, such as Angry Birds appear among the 200 “top grossing games” in Apple’s iOS Japan AppStore.

Japan game market report (398 pages, pdf-file):

Copyright (c) 2014-2019 Eurotechnology Japan KK All Rights Reserved