The report noted that Japanese mobile games that use the “gacha” model have earned US$55 billion in total since 2007.
Many Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean mobile games use the gacha (a term derived from gachapon capsule toys) model for in-game purchases.
Business news website Bloomberg published an article on Monday that reported that, while Japan’s mobile gaming market is growing, Japanese games are losing market share to Chinese and South Korean games.
Meanwhile, Chinese company NetEase’s Knives Out mobile game has consistently ranked among the top five mobile games in Japan this year, and is earning as much as US$65 million per month.