During the first half of 2026, the Japanese market saw a notable 13 percent increase in sales of PC and PlayStation hardware, reaching a total of 21 million units. This upward trend was largely propelled by the launch of Capcom’s highly anticipated title, Resident Evil Requiem. The figures come from Sensor Tower’s most recent Japan Game Market Insights report, which highlights Capcom as the leading publisher for both PC and PlayStation platforms in terms of units sold.
It is important to note that Sensor Tower’s Japanese dataset focuses exclusively on Steam and PlayStation sales, omitting other distribution channels. Resident Evil Requiem distinguished itself by achieving the strongest first‑month performance ever recorded for a Resident Evil game on Steam, moving an estimated 2.6 million copies within its opening month. Sensor Tower commented that this achievement underscores the growing relevance of Steam for premium Japanese titles, granting Capcom instant exposure to a worldwide audience while extending the franchise beyond its traditional console‑centric roots.
The report also highlighted the depth of player engagement at launch. Steam users who purchased Requiem logged an average of 25 hours of gameplay during the first month, the highest playtime metric among comparable entries in the series. Sensor Tower attributed this strong engagement to a strategic pre‑launch campaign: a dedicated Steam store page was created 264 days before the official release, providing ample time for marketing, community building, and the accumulation of wishlists. This extended runway helped generate sustained interest across key regions, including the United States, China, Japan, and Europe, turning early anticipation into long‑term play.
By July, Resident Evil Requiem had surpassed the eight‑million‑unit milestone, contributing significantly to Capcom’s latest earnings report alongside the success of Pragmata. The company also noted continued sales momentum from its earlier Resident Evil titles, specifically Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 2, indicating that the franchise’s overall health remains robust. In contrast to the strong performance of premium console and PC titles, the mobile segment showed a modest decline.
In‑app‑purchase (IAP) revenue from mobile games fell 5.1 percent year‑on‑year to ¥1.56 trillion (approximately $10 billion), while total downloads dropped 5.4 percent to 585 million. Despite these dips, Japan retained its status as the second‑largest mobile gaming market in Asia. According to Sensor Tower, Japan’s mobile IAP revenue was twice that of South Korea and nearly four times that of Taiwan. Moreover, domestic revenue accounted for 65 percent of total IAP earnings, with the remaining 35 percent generated overseas.
Japanese publishers captured 28 percent of all mobile game downloads in the second quarter of 2026. Sensor Tower observed that this share has stabilized since late 2026, although it remains below the 32 percent share recorded a year earlier, as foreign publishers continue to expand their foothold among Japanese gamers. Advertising spend in the gaming sector also saw substantial growth. The industry allocated $749.7 million to advertising and generated 208 billion ad impressions in the first half of the year, positioning gaming as the third‑largest advertising category in Japan.
When it comes to revenue‑generating mobile titles, eFootball emerged as the top‑grossing game from January through July 2026, followed by Monster Strike, Last War: Survival, and Whiteout Survival. Sensor Tower linked eFootball’s success to Konami’s effective timing, noting that the company sustained momentum from April to July by aligning football‑themed updates with heightened global interest surrounding the World Cup. In the action‑RPG segment, Dragon Quest Smash/Grow led both IAP revenue and overall earnings during the same period. Genre‑level analysis revealed that role‑playing games (RPGs) dominated mobile IAP revenue, capturing nearly one‑third of total spend at 32.8 percent.
Strategy games followed with a 23.8 percent share, while puzzle titles drove the highest proportion of downloads, accounting for 37.8 percent of all mobile game installations. Overall, the data paints a picture of a Japanese gaming ecosystem that is thriving on high‑budget console and PC releases, particularly those that leverage global platforms like Steam, while also navigating a more modest, yet still significant, mobile market that continues to attract both domestic and international developers. The success of Resident Evil Requiem illustrates how a well‑timed, globally accessible launch can amplify a franchise’s reach, and the broader trends suggest that publishers who balance premium releases with strategic mobile offerings are best positioned to capitalize on Japan’s diverse gaming landscape.