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Game localization into
Japanese
Interesting facts about Japanese
- Japanese is spoken as a native language by about 128 million people around the world
- Japanese has four different writing systems: Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji
- Japan is the country where Japanese is the national and official language
Other languages of localization
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Japanese users around the world
Japanese is spoken as a native language by about 128 million people around the world. Of these speakers the vast majority are from Japan, the country where this language is the national and official language.
Japanese as a language
This language belongs to the Japonic group of languages, also known as the Japane-Ryukyuan language family. The most noticeable features about Japanese are its four different writing systems: Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji and also the sentence construction. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb. Unlike many Indo-European languages, the only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions.
Japanese in game localization
Japanese is one of the top languages to which games are localized in terms of users and in terms of profitability. One should expect no less of a “pioneer” country in terms of video games. However, there are many topics that one should consider when developing a game before wanting to launch it in the Japanese market. Translation and localization are two different things. Translation translates text from one language to another, while localization adapts the user experience to the local context. This means that you must consider cultural and linguistic nuances when adapting video games. In Japan, many topics are taboo and censored. For example, extreme violence or drugs are censored in audiovisual products.
There are a few genres that are popular among Japanese gamers, Battle royale, hypercasual, puzzles, and action games are mobile devices’ most popular and downloaded game genres. Battle royale is the leading game genre with continuously growing popularity for revenue.
Behind the battle royale, some game genres such as Match3, MMO strategy, and action games also create considerable revenue. When it comes to favorite games, Japanese players focus on and spend a lot of money on their hobbies. To have a successful Japanese game localization, it is a must to invest in mobile games.
Revenue and number of players in the Japanese market
Japan, the third-largest game industry behind the U.S and China, is a promising landscape for any game company. Japan is an unmissable market for localization, especially for any game company. Almost 80% of game players buy items or goods for their games. Mobile games gain the most revenue in the industry. Japanese gamers take the number one spot for the most game spending in the world with an annual of $371 per gamer.
Some interesting facts
about the Japanese game market
- Japan is the third-largest game industry behind the U.S and China
- Mobile games gain the most revenue in the industry
- Japanese gamers' spendings annually come to $371 per gamer
Ready to grow?
Spend little. Gain a great deal!
Localizing a video game into more languages is a relatively small outlay compared to how much you will gain.
Spend a few thousand and gain several million new players.
Spend a few thousand and gain several million new players.
