Dos and Don'ts of Bringing a Game to the Japanese Market

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The size of the gaming market in Japan was valued at $22.35 Billion in 2022. By 2032, it’s expected to reach $40.74 Billion. If you are keen to expand to this market, here are 5 things you need to know.?

1. Choose the right game genre

Japan’s game preferences are unique to that market. According to Statista, in 2024 the top-5 video genres in Japan were:

• Action games
• Role-playing (RPG)?
• Action-adventure
• Simulation
• Sports

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you must develop a game within these genres if you want to present it to the Japanese audience. However, these trends indicate what you can expect to do well in Japan (if you localize it properly).

Another thing about Japanese preferences is that users like games that combine several genres. For example, it might be an RPG but it could also contain puzzles to solve.?

2. Understand linguistic differences

Japanese is a complex language with the following nuances:

• It has different levels of politeness, as well as ways of differentiating the genders during a conversation (i.e., first-person pronouns such as boku for men or a gender-neutral watashi).
• Words in Japanese are not separated by spaces like in English. The text wrapping should be done manually and in strict correspondence with the grammar — otherwise, you might risk breaking down a word into grammatically incorrect parts that look awkward.?
• The tone of the speech between English and Japanese differs, too. An imperative form might be OK for English but too strict for Japanese, while a neutral phrase in English might sound too informal in Japanese.

Tip: try to avoid “literal” translation that reproduces text word for word—instead, reproduce the meaning and context behind a phrase. Ni No Kuni is a great example of a video game localized in Japanese, with some parts of the dialogues rewritten and reinvented from the English source to keep up with the overall cheerful tone of the game.

3. Be aware of sensitive topics

There are certain sensitive topics in Japan that you will want to consider and may choose to avoid in your game, such as:

• Violence: a player should not play the role of a murderer, kill innocent people or children, or express overly violent behavior. For example, PC Murder Mystery game was forbidden from distribution via consoles because in the game the player discovers that they are the murderer.
• Drug use: in video games, it should be removed if possible.
• Religion: a game should not promote a particular religion.

For a more detailed explanation, you can refer to the CERO's (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization) rating.

Tip: double-check that the cultural elements of the game (if there are any) are Japanese, not Chinese, for example, since that might be offensive or confusing to players. It’s best to tailor the cultural elements to each specific country, rather than blending the cultures of different Asian countries together.

4. Make no assumptions that text is clear

Even the simplest sentence can be translated in several ways. To ensure that the translation corresponds exactly to the initial meaning, provide context and references for your Japanese translators.

For example, a translation in The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game shows us how this can go wrong. In one of the game’s scenes, a man looks at the player and says “And remember — No Russian”. You might think nothing could go wrong with the translation of just two words. Yet, the Japanese translators misunderstood the meaning so the Japanese version of the scene featured the unfortunate text of “Kill them — They are Russians” instead.

In order to receive an accurate translation and avoid common language mistakes, give your translators an option to ask questions directly. This can be done either via a messenger (i.e. Slack) or via a localization platform with the corresponding feature.

5. Do not cut out all English text

A common misconception is that localization implies translating everything — but that’s not always the case. Surprisingly, players expect and even like English titles and phrases, so do not cut them out completely. You can leave English on the menu or in some messages to the users.? For instance, the Japanese refer to the Alt key as "Alt" in English, so leaving that term untranslated still makes sense for the Japanese gaming audience.

These are just five considerations for localizing a game for the Japanese market. But it’s complex: you may need a partner who can handle it all for you. If so, you can сontact us to help bring your product to new markets.

Every country has its own rules and preferences. At Alconost, we offer the cultural expertise of over 800 native-speaking linguists who translate into over 100 languages, adhering to international ISO standards and quality assurance methodologies.