The Increasing Amount of Japanese Games on Steam
Japanese game developers have never provided heavy support for PC gaming, but there used to be a time where every other game made its way to the platform. Just the same, the PC gaming audience was never very large in Japan, nothing compared to the sizable audience with varying tastes in software in western markets. That happened due to a significant difference in history between both societies. The western world started gaming on PCs very early on, before many of us who are reading and writing on this blog were born. But that never took off in a big way in Japan, where most received their start on dedicated platforms.
While PC gaming was on its deathbed in western territories for a while, it resurged in a big way with the introduction of gaming clients like Steam. The gaming audience also realized how nice it was to have an open platform to play video games on, despite the increased amount of tinkering required to get some software in working order. Ironically enough, it was around this same time where the already-small PC gaming market was fading into the sun in Japan. Ys-developer Falcom infamously reported how the last game they released themselves on PC in the territory, Zwei 2, only moved copies when they put it on sale. They shifted their support primarily to Sony platforms immediately after this.
An extremely niche market still exists on PC in Japan these days, but it’s only enough to support a few traditional games. By “traditional,” I’m not referring to titles like MMORPGs, social games, doujin and indie games, and eroge titles, which could only have a primary home on those platforms. Sadly, not many Japanese companies have been making an effort to expand the popularity of PC gaming in the country, despite the benefits it could have. Some companies have, however, made steps to curtail this in western territories.
That is, unless your name is “Capcom,” or, to a lesser extent, “Sega,” and you’ve been doing this for an entire console generation. Those efforts were spearheaded by the western divisions, however.
It’s been a while since Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale from Carpe Fulgur released, yet its sales proved that there was a market for niche Japanese titles on PC h. While many Japanese developers didn’t make a move until recently, it wouldn’t be fair to say no one capitalized on it. XSeed realized it and tried the best they could to update and release Falcom’s older efforts on Steam outside Japan, and they’ve received good sales thus far. To a lesser extent, Marvelous capitalized on this with Half-Minute Hero, which performed well enough that it finally gave us the chance to experience the previously-MIA sequel.
This situation has become far better with recent developments. In the last year alone, we’ve seen titles like Killer is Dead, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition and Deadly Premonition make it to Steam. And titles like Final Fantasy XIII followed it. We’re finally getting to the point where Japanese companies are realizing the strength of the ecosystem that comes with releasing games on PC outside Japan. But we haven’t exactly arrived at that point yet, as games are still arriving later than their console counterparts in most cases where they couldn’t be. Fortunately, late arrivals have been priced accordingly in most cases.
Precise sales data hasn’t been disclosed for any game, but they’re doing well by all indications. The aforementioned DW8, for instance, did well enough that its expansion, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, will release on the same day as the console versions in January. (Who knows what’s keeping the other Warriors games, though.) Revengeance doing well means Konami is porting Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain to PC, though one shouldn’t have been used to gauge the interest of the other. The recently released Valkyria Chronicles made it to the top of Steam’s charts on a revenue basis, even with games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Assassin’s Creed Unity hitting the service around this time. This impressed Sega, and perhaps it will get a few gears moving. It’s Sega, so you’ll want to put a heavy emphasis on “perhaps.”
While that’s great, there’s something else that could be worked on with more efficency: the port quality. While a number of games hit Steam with issues from a variety of developers worldwide, Japanese titles tend to have more trouble working on PC compared to others. FFXIII, for instance, contained no graphics options whatsoever, among other issues, when it released last month, though it’s fortunately receiving an official patch from Square Enix next month — around the time Final Fantasy XIII-2 will hit Steam (with better support already available). Deadly Premonition, however, received no such support, leaving players to rely on mods to get the best performance. Thankfully, we’ve had plenty of good efforts, like most of Sega and Capcom’s titles.
Things are getting much better on the PC front with Japanese games, but it could still use some improvement. Many developers still haven’t jumped on this train yet, as much as it could benefit them. Perhaps they’ll need a little more convincing, but hopefully it won’t take long.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
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First, they’ll be led towards the light and welcomed among those of the glorious PC gaming master race. Then, they’ll be convinced to find adult women attractive without the aid of tentacles and/or clothes-melting slime.
They’ll be OK as long as they aren’t too curious about what “eroge” means.