Financial report season is the best season for getting a look into otherwise tight-lipped Japanese publishers. Yesterday, we ran a story about Square Enix’s plan to put more of a focus on mobile game development going forward, and today, we have perhaps another piece of the puzzle as to why so many Japanese developers and publishers are shifting interests. Simply put, the death of the Japanese game industry has been greatly exaggerated. For all the talk of the Japanese people losing interest in gaming, they’re just as energetic about it as ever. They’ve just moved their attentions to the mobile space.

You might know Mixi, but there’s a good chance you don’t. For many years, they were Japan’s answer to Facebook, and their social networking site was so popular that the actual Facebook has faced considerable difficulties in penetrating the Japanese market. Recently, they’ve added another feather to their hat. Mixi is the developer and publisher of the latest game to take over the hearts and minds of Japanese gamers, Monster Strike (Free). While it’s basically a non-factor outside of Japan, it’s been a runaway success in its home country since its launch in late 2013. Kids who used to be glued to their Nintendo DS handhelds are now flicking away on their mobiles to their heart’s content, and their older siblings and parents aren’t far behind them.

So what does that add up to in terms of numbers? According to an analysis of the financial results over at VentureBeat, Monster Strike has been downloaded more than 30 million times, makes about $3.8 million per day, and was a major contributor to Mixi’s fourth-quarter revenue of $350 million, which is about as much as Nintendo made in the entire fiscal year. An analyst who spoke to VentureBeat goes on to suggest that the game stands a very good chance of becoming Japan’s second billion-dollar mobile game, following the massive success of Gungho’s Puzzle & Dragons (Free). For reference, Square Enix just posted a yearly net income of about $80 million. The most amazing thing about it is, Monster Strike is drawing almost all of its success from the Japanese market. The English version seems to have fallen flat, and though its recent expansion into China is looking good, it’s still making most of its money at home.

With those kinds of results, it’s not hard to see why so many Japanese companies are starting to reorganize their priorities, particularly those publishers who have historically found much of their success in their home market. Japanese players have largely abandoned consoles and are even slowing down on handhelds, but their love of video games lives on in the mobile space. If you’ll excuse me a cheeky bit of paraphrasing: the Emperor is dead, long live the Emperor.

Source: VentureBeat