Yano Research Institute released its Otaku Market survey results on January 6, collating market trends for popular categories like anime, games, VTubers, and the like. Among the 17 categories in its 2025 fiscal year forecast, indie games are expected to have the highest fiscal growth rate in Japan, increasing 23.9% compared to the previous year (source: ITMedia News).
The study cites popular Japanese titles such as Urban Myth Dissolution Center and The Exit 8 as the reason for the recent boom in indies. Given that these games are relatively easy to play and accessible on multiple platforms, the preconceived notion that indies are exclusively for “hardcore gamers” has been slowly disappearing, paving the way for an increasing number of players, and helping the two titles become cultural phenomena. To put things into perspective, The Exit 8 ended up getting a movie adaptation which became the highest-grossing live-action theatrical release in Japan for 2025, while the soundtrack of Urban Myth Dissolution Center dominated domestic music charts.
Though not as big a fiscal growth rate as indie games, VTubers and Vocaloid are predicted to increase by 20% and 18%, respectively. As for the predicted overall earnings for fiscal year 2025, the anime industry is still expected to rank first with 410 billion JPY (roughly $2.617 billion USD), followed by doujinshi with 150 billion JPY ($9.575 billion USD) and indie games with an estimated 33 billion JPY ($211 million USD).
Related articles:
