Japanese developer Konami tops the charts in Japan with sports games in their domestic mobile market.
According to the latest Sensor Tower data half of the top-ten sports titles in Japan are developed by Konami. The company is mostly well-known for their console franchises such as Castlevania, Metal Gear, and physical card games such as YuGiOh.
But it’s not just in Japan that Konami boasts dominance of the sports genre. Professional Baseball Spirits A, which is number one for revenue domestically, is also the highest grossing sports game on mobile worldwide, according to this latest data. The title boasts a hugely loyal following, with an average of 1-10 hours of playtime, but a significant portion (10%) that regularly exceeds ten hours of playtime.
If accurate, the dominance of Professional Baseball Spirits A places Konami in direct competition with other heavyweights of the mobile sports market. This includes developers such as Take-Two Interactive (CSR2 - Realistic Drag Racing), Electronic Arts (FIFA Soccer) and Miniclip - with their highly successful 8 Ball Pool title.
Big in Japan (and elsewhere too)
While other mobile genres do boast higher user bases and revenue, it’s undeniable that sports remains a significant market. This is especially notable in Japan’s mobile sports game market, where the average age of the players is roughly 33-34, however this changes depending on the specific sport, with baseball fans averaging 25-34, while football is the 35-44 age bracket.
The fact that a sports game, Professional Baseball Spirits A, is topping the charts globally, beating even titanic genres such as hypercasual and gacha, is indicative of the value in the Japanese mobile market. It indicates highly engaged and high-spending players that have helped boost the revenue of this game to globally recognizable levels.
Japanese gaming giants have also been emulating Konami in their commitment to mobile. Monster Hunter Now has proved a breakout hit for the once cult-hit IP and Capcom themselves, with future performance likely to swing the opinion of Japanese game makers further.
