I gave this presentation on July 17, 2013 in Tokyo, at the inaugural Insert Coint event.

1. Japan‘s Social Gaming Market 2013:
Status Quo & Key Trends
By Serkan Toto, PhD
www.serkantoto.com
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2. About Me
• CEO and founder of Kantan Games, KK
• Social and mobile gaming industry consultant
• Advisor for startups in Japan and the US
• Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com
• Based in Japan since 2004
• Hardcore gamer
• Personal site: http://www.serkantoto.com
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3. Current Favorite (Mobile) Game
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4. Current Favorite (Mobile) Game
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5. Visit My Website For Free Information On
Japan’s Mobile Game Industry
(http://www.serkantoto.com)
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6. Contact Information
Twitter: @serkantoto
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/serkantoto
Email: serkan AT serkantoto.com
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7. Agenda
I: Status Quo Of Japan’s Social Gaming Market
II: 13 Key Trends In Japan
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8. I: Status Quo Of Japan’s Social
Gaming Market
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9. Japan‘s Unique Social Landscape
• 4 homegrown social networks with 25-50
million registered users each:
– Mixi (80%+ mobile social networking)
– GREE (mobile social gaming)
– Mobage (mobile social gaming)
– LINE (mobile chat application)
• Twitter: 30+ million users
• Facebook: 19+ million MAU
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10. Fragmented Game Market
• ~300-400 social game providers in Japan.
• 20+ game platform providers (all mobile).
• 2 dominant companies as platform and
game provider hybrids:
GREE and DeNA (“Facebook+Zynga in 1“).
• LINE (since July 2012), Kakaotalk (February
2013), and dgame (December 2012) emerge
as domestic competitors.
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11. Japan‘s Social Gaming Ecosystem
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12. Size Of Japan‘s Social Gaming
Market
-> Projection from Yano Research, January 2013
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13. Size Of Japan‘s Social Gaming
Market
-> Projection from Nomura Research, January 2012
Image credit: The Nikkei
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14. Social Is Bigger Than Video Gaming
-> Data from Yano Research, February 2013.
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15. Extremely High Paying User Ratio
-> Morgan Stanley offers more insight.
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16. Spending Patterns
-> Not much difference compared to other regions
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17. 4 Big Reasons Why Japanese Play
Social Games
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18. The Top 5 User Demographics For
Social Games
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19. Some User Data From GREE
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20. II: 13 Key Trends In Mobile Gaming
In Japan (And Asia)
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21. Trend 1: Smartphone And Tablet
Revolution
Source:
Impress
R&D
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22. Trend 1: Smartphone And Tablet
Revolution
Source:
MM
Research
Ins>tute
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23. Trend 2: Shift To The App Economy
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24. Trend 3: Rise Of The Chat Apps
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25. Trend 3: Rise Of The Chat Apps
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26. Trend 4: Competition In Platforms
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27. Trend 5: User Acquisition Costs
Rise
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28. Trend 6: Puzzle & Dragons Hype
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29. Trend 6: Puzzle & Dragons Hype
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30. Trend 6: Puzzle & Dragons Hype
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31. Trend 6: Puzzle & Dragons Hype
Image credit: Social Game Info 31

32. Trend 6: Puzzle & Dragons Hype
Source: App Annie 32

33. Trend 7: Next-Gen Social Games
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34. • There are now payment caps for younger
players on DeNA and GREE.
• Real-money, off-platform trading of virtual
items is still a problem.
• Certain bingo/lottery-like gaming mechanics
are banned.
• Odds of winning are now disclosed in gacha.
• JASGA has been established.
Trend 8: Regulation (?)
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35. Trend 8: Regulation (?)
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36. Trend 8: Regulation (?)
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37. Trend 9: Card Battle Fatigue (?)
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38. Trend 9: Card Battle Fatigue (?)
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39. Trend 9: Card Battle Fatigue (?)
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40. Trend 9: Card Battle Fatigue (?)
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41. Trend 9: Card Battle Fatigue (?)
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42. Trend 10: Diversification
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43. Trend 11: Internationalization
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44. Trend 12: Salaries Are Rising
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Image credit: Yusuke Ando (Slideshare presentation, 2009)

45. Trend 12: Salaries Are Rising
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46. Trend 12: Salaries Are Rising
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47. Trend 13: The Gaijin Are Coming
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48. Thank you for listening!
Questions?
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49. Contact Information
Twitter: @serkantoto
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/serkantoto
Email: serkan AT serkantoto.com
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