Chinese video game developer Hypergryph released their 3D action RPG Arknights: Endfield on January 22 for PC, PS5, and mobile. While the game has shown high popularity in the first month since launch both domestically and globally, with China taking the lead in overall mobile downloads, recent research points that Japan is actually the biggest gacha spender on the platform (Source: Otaku Soken).
According to data compiled by Sensor Tower from January 22 to February 21, the Chinese market accounted for 25% of mobile downloads for Endfield, coming out as the region with the overall biggest download share. Just after China, the Japanese market came second with 13% of overall mobile downloads, followed by Korea (9%), United States (8%) and Russia (5%).
On the other hand, when it comes to revenue, data suggests that, despite having the most overall downloads, the biggest market for Arknights: Endfield is actually not China. Apparently, Japan accounted for 32% of overall revenue, surpassing China at 27%. Among all regions where Endfield is available, Japan also has the strongest revenue-per-download rate, at approximately $15 USD per download.
Coincidentally, Japan also ranks highly when it comes to player population for Endfield’s PlayStation 5 port, being the second most populous market in the world (15%), right behind the US.
On a related note, Japan managing to top the Chinese market in terms of revenue is likely related to the general spending habits of Japanese mobile gamers. According to a report published by Sensor Tower in September last year, Japan has an “exceptionally high” average revenue per user (ARPU), meaning Japanese players show a greater willingness to spend significant amounts on in-game purchases compared to players based in other regions. When it comes to Japanese mobile games specifically, more than 80% of downloads come from overseas, while Japanese users are still responsible for 70% of the overall revenue.
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