In the lessons of these charts, we note that the Japanese public is the number one consumer of free-to-play games, while the rest of Asia has shown a certain indifference to such games compared to the rest of the world. As an indication, the most popular free games in Japan right now include Fall Guys, Genshin Impact, Apex Legends, Fortnite, eFootball 2022, Mobile Suit Gundam: Combat Action 2, PUBG, Rocket League, and Yu-Gi-oh! Duel Master.
As a corollary to this taste for free-to-play games, Japanese gamers are those who play the least amount of games on the PlayStation. Between April 2021 and June 2022, Japanese players used an average of 5.9 games, compared to 10.7 games for American players, 9.6 games for European players and 8.2 games for Asian players.
On the other hand, Japanese gamers showed higher investment before moving on, as evidenced by the average number of hours each community spent playing games.
Despite the appeal of free-to-play games to Japanese gamers, Japanese gamers are still more inclined than other regions to buy boxed games when they have a choice of formats. But don’t get me wrong, Japanese gamers consume as many “pure digital” games as European players.
The investment of Japanese players in terms of playing time logically translates into more unlocked trophies. By contrast, the biggest collectors of platinum trophies are European and Asian players. Either way, American players are the least diligent trophy hunters.
European and American gamers are significantly ahead of Japanese and Asian gamers in terms of time spent on online multiplayer games (excluding free-to-play games).
Finally, when it comes to spending on add-ons and other microtransactions, Japan tends to stand out, as US and European players are not far behind. When it comes to free-to-play games, there’s not yet a distinct culture of extra consumption in Asia, at least not on the PlayStation.