Sales reports from Enterbrain state that the Japanese game market grew 1.2 percent to $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2012. This modest growth is the first time in five years that the conventional gaming market has grown in Japan.
Hardware was responsible for the growth, increasing 5 percent to about $1.8 billion with the Wii U launch, the 3DS XL being introduced and Sony cutting the price of the PS Vita. Software contracted 1.2 percent to $2.8 billion in that time frame.
It’s worth noting that over this time, the online and social market for games in Japan grew by nearly 30 percent to $4.3 billion in 2012. This puts the nascent but growing sector of gaming roughly on par with traditional video games in Japan.
Source: TechinAsia.com
