RPGs overtake card battle games as most popular mobile game genre in Japan

Move over, card games. Roleplaying games – RPGs – are now the most popular mobile game genre for Android users in Japan.

App monetization platform Metaps discussed why in a blog post where it analyzed the top grossing categories in Japan’s Google Play store for September 2014. The card game, once a dominant genre, is now ranked fourth, behind the roleplaying, casual, and simulation categories. While its average revenue per user (ARPU) is still above average, there are also fewer new releases in that category, showing that the card battle game is finally running out of steam.

The roleplaying genre, on the other hand, has been slowly increasing its share as the number one category on the top grossing chart for Japan’s Google Play store from July to September. Simulation and puzzle genres have also increased this share over the same period, while casual and card games categories have declined. The puzzle category saw the most frequent release of new apps, but doesn’t have a very high ARPU.

The charts are currently dominated by the following roleplaying games:

Brave Frontier

Developed by Alim studio and published by Gumi, Brave Frontier entered the top 10 grossing charts in Japan last year and has stayed there ever since. Last month, it held a one-year release anniversary campaign, a TV commercial campaign, and a tie-up with the Japanese convenience store chain, Lawson. Brave Frontier has been published globally by Gumi Asia and needs no further introduction.

See: GungHo and Gumi extend their reach – to opposite sides of the globe

The White Cat Project

Developed and published by COLOPL, the same company behind the awesome Quiz RPG, White Cat Project is still very much a Japan-only game. According to Dr. Serkan Toto, the action RPG was released for Android and iOS only in July this year, and already had 12 million downloads as of September 2014. Metaps writes that the game has regular prime-time TV commercials.

Logres of Swords and Sorcery

Developed by Aiming and published by Marvelous, Logres is a lot older than White Cat Project. It was first released in December 2013, but has maintained a steady presence in the top 20 on the top grossing Android chart since August this year. Logres is a mobile MMORPG that only has a Japanese service. It’s also notably a game that isn’t didn’t start out as a native app.

The shift towards a preference for roleplaying games, combined with less puzzle games being developed, signifies a lapse that other developers can take advantage of. It’s similar to how Puzzle & Dragons held market sway for a long time with its ARPU dominance. At one point, the game was earning so much that it was impossible for new games to grab a slice of user revenue. But two years on, with so many well-made (and not so well-made) clones as well as brand new games with innovative gameplay, user preferences are finally evolving.

Given recent announcements like Gree’s new partnership with KDDI to localize foreign games for the domestic Japanese market, the Japanese market might finally be tired of seeing the same old games all the time.