Japan's online folk are really and truly embracing online gaming with about as much affection as water. New figures coming in from trade group OnlineGameForum suggest that this year will see a staggering 62% growth in the sector's revenue. Japan's online gaming revenue reached 57.8 billion Yen (423 million Euro) last year, but this year is seeing those figures blown out of the water with online gaming expected to top 93.8 billion Yen (687 million Euro) by the year's end.
The meteoric rise of the sector has been fuelled by a number of factors, with console online gaming and PC online gaming both contributing to growth. Key online titles in Japan include Square Enix' PS2 and PC MMOG Final Fantasy XI and Korean-developed PC MMOG Ragnarok Online.
Online gaming in Japan is expected to go from strength to strength with the introduction of online game services for both Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS offering in the handheld market. Also, with the next-gen consoles bringing more and more innovation to the gaming-hungry, Japan is expected to reach dizzying new heights by the end of next year.The growth in online game revenues is also reflected in many other territories; the current market leader in the MMOG space, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, has over 3.5 million subscribers worldwide at present, and other online sectors such as casual gaming have also shown significant growth over the past year.
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