A new report predicts the East Asia video game market will decline in 2025 due to global issues affecting Japan and South Korea.
A report published on July 29 by Niko Partners predicts the East Asia video game market – comprising Japan and South Korea – will decline by 2.3% in 2025. The firm has been tracking the markets in the two countries for the past eight years.
According to the Niko Partners’ East Asia Market Model and Five-Year Forecast, the East Asia region generated $29.1 billion in games revenue in 2024, down 3.1% YoY, and will decline slightly to $28.5 billion in 2025.
According to the report, this decline is due to a combination of “weakened currencies against the US dollar and an economic slowdown in the face of ongoing global trade issues.”
However, the market is expected to rebound in 2026 and grow to $30.3 billion in 2029, at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.8%.
Japan’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is predicted to reach $21.82, while South Korea’s ARPU is projected to reach $30.77, the highest of all the Asian markets covered by Niko Partners.
Elsewhere in the report, the firm predicts the number of gamers in East Asia will grow by 1.3% in 2025 to 98.5 million, with the gamer population projected to reach 101.7 million by 2029 at a 5-year CAGR of 0.9%.
In addition to revenue forecasts, the report provides key insights on gamer demographics for the East Asian market.
The firm found that 46.6% of Japanese gamers and 37.8% of Korean gamers watch gaming video or livestream content.
In addition, “one trend that has remained consistent” since the firm began tracking East Asian markets is “the dominance of RPG titles for PC and mobile.” However, Niko Partners notes that Korean players tend to prefer multiplayer online RPGs, whereas Japanese players are wedded to single-player RPGs.