PS3 Informer

Japanese Video Game Sales Down in 2009

Now that 2009 has come to a close, many are breathing a sigh of relief. One of the most difficult economic periods in recent history appears to finally be on the verge of abating. During the economic crisis of the past two years, there was virtually no economic sector left untouched by weakened demand, and that includes the video game industry.

Japan has traditionally been a core driving market in the development of video game software and hardware. However, recent data shows that the country experienced a sharp decline in video game revenue during 2009, suggesting that the impact of the economic slowdown was wider-reaching and more severe than anticipated.

For the year ended December 27, 2009, market research firm Enterbrain reports an overall drop in video game revenues of 6.9% compared with 2008. This corresponded to a 1.8% decline in software revenue and a 13.6% fall in hardware sales (source). In total, the Japanese video game industry accounted for JPY 542.6 billion or USD $5.9 billion.

These numbers include sales of all major consoles and handhelds from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo was by far the market leader in 2009, with four of the top five selling software titles appearing on its systems.

Top 5 Video Game Titles in Japan (2009):

* 1. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix, DS): 4,100,968
* 2. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (Pokemon, DS): 3,382,597
* 3. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 2,485,150
* 4. Friend Collection (Nintendo, DS): 2,311,948
* 5. Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, PS3): 1,698,256

The decline in both hardware and software sales in Japan is certainly worrying for the video game industry in that country. Despite efforts by Nintendo to bring in new audiences with its family-oriented Wii and DS systems, the level of market adoption appears to be peaking. On the software side, many Japanese publishers like Konami, Capcom and Square Enix have aggressively looked toward Western markets as a source of future growth. The recent acquisition of European developer Eidos by Square Enix and the decision by Capcom to farm out development of Dead Rising 2 to a Canadian firm are both examples of this new global strategy.

New Super Mario Brothers Wii was one of the best selling games of 2009, but it wasn't enough to buoy the Japanese market as a whole.