This is a very draft and preliminary version of our web survey research.

1. Our recent project
Pokémon Go and Smartphone game in Japan
Yuhsuke Koyama (Shibaura Institute of Technology)
Ema Tanaka(Foundation for MultiMedia Communications)
Nobushige Hichibe(Foundation for MultiMedia
Communications)

2. Japanese video game market
• Market Size(2016)
• Console game software(1EUR=130 JPY)
• Package sale:188 billion JPY (= 1.44 billion EUR)
• Download: 7.9 billion JPY(=60.7 million EUR)
• Smartphone game
• 960 billion JPY(=7.38 billion EUR)
• Smartphone game sales exceed those of console game
software in 2012
• Smartphone game market is growing year by year, yet consumer
game sales is declining year by year.
• Hit titles in Japan are different from those in western
countries

3. Game Revenue 2016 top 10
Japan
1 Monster Strike Mixi
2 Puzzle & Dragons GungHo
3 Fate/Grand Order Sony
4 Disney Tsum Tsum Line
5 Colopl Rune Story COLOPL
6 THE IDOLM@STER Starlight Stage Bandai
Namco
7 Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyaky Konami
8 GranBlue Fantasy CyberAgent
9 Pokémon GO Niantic
10 Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle Bandai
Namco
Sweden
1 MonsterStrike Mixi
2 Candy Crush Saga Activision
Blizzard
3 Mobile Strike MZ
4 Candy Crush Soda Saga Activision
Blizzard
5 Game of War – Fire Age MZ
6 Clash of Clans Supercell
7 Clash Royale Supercell
8 Hay Day Supercell
9 Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Activision
Blizzard
10 Farm Heroes Saga Activision
Blizzard
Souurce: App Annie2016 RetroSpective

4. Features of Japanese smartphone games
• Influence of JRPG(Japanese RPG)
• Story and (moe) Character
• Core business model: gacha
• 300-500 JPY/1 trial, 3000-5000 JPY/ 11 trials
• Strong character can be get only by gacha
• Special or tie-up events to get special characters are
held too often.
• Game design: most games use “party battle” and
“character collection” as the gacha-optimized
design.
• #party members:4-6, members are replaceable
• Battle: puzzle, action, strategy…any system

5. Gacha’s high profit performance:
Gung-Ho’s Puzzle & Dragons
96 258
1630 1731
1543
12 93
912 943
724
0
500
1000
1500
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
売上高 営業利益
2012: Puzzle & Dragons released
2015: 88.6% of Gung-Ho’s sales is
generated by Puzzle & Dragons and
related sales.
sales profits
(100 million JPY)

6. Pokémon GO
• Released date in Japan: July 22th ,2016
• Smash hit
• Installed base in Japan 17.4 million(Sep
2016)
• Sales (world): 1.2billion USD
• Resemblance and differences with other
smartphone games in Japan
• Employ “character collection” mechanism
• Do not employ gacha
https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/30/pokemon-go-passes-1-2-billion-in-revenue-and-752-million-downloads/

7. Our Research Interests
• It is often reported that gacha often set off the serious social
problems.
• Children wasted money even 10000 EUR for gacha.
• Gacha scrape people’s living budget.
• People on welfare waste their allowance to gacha
• But, there are no survey results which can be trusted
-> Web Survey
• Does Pokémon Go change (or even affect) the business
model of smartphone game in Japan?

8. Web Survey
• Smartphone game players data
• N=15867
• Game player:2568
• August 10th ~11th
• Questions
• Age,sex,employment status,…
• Maximum amount of payments
for smartphone games per month
• Items of expenditure which
reduced after starting to play
smartphone games
• Important factor for smartphone
games
• Pokémon GO players data
• N=1000
• Sex(M,F) & Age(20,30,…60)
• Each 100
• August 12th ~14th
• Sampling from smartphone game
user data
• Questions
• Purchasing items
• Shopping activity when playing
Pokémon GO
research company
https://www.marsh-research.co.jp/

9. Smartphone game
players data

10. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
男性20代 Male 20's
男性30代 Male 30's
男性40代 Male 40's
男性50代 Male 50's
男性60才以上 Male 60's and above
女性20代 Female 20's
女性30代 Female 30's
女性40代 Female 40's
女性50代 Female 50's
女性60才以上 Female 60's and above
性別・年齢階層別 各タイトルプレイ率（％）
Play rate (%) of each title by sex and age groups
ツムツム TSUM TSUM ドラゴンボールZ DRAGON BALL Z アイマス THE IDOLM@STER
グラブル GRANBLUE FANTASY FGO Fate/Grand Order ポケモンGO Pokemon GO
モンスト Monster Strikes パズドラ Pazzle & Dragons

11. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
男性20代 Male 20's
男性30代 Male 30's
男性40代 Male 40's
男性50代 Male 50's
男性60才以上 Male 60's and above
女性20代 Female 20's
女性30代 Female 30's
女性40代 Female 40's
女性50代 Female 50's
女性60才以上 Female 60's and above
性別・年齢階層別 各タイトルプレイ率（％，8タイトル中1タイトル以上プレイ者）N=2568
Play rate (%) of each title by sex and age groups (those who play more than 1 game title)
ツムツム TSUM TSUM ドラゴンボールZ DRAGON BALL Z アイマス THE IDOLM@STER
グラブル GRANBLUE FANTASY FGO Fate/Grand Order ポケモンGO Pokemon GO
モンスト Monster Strikes パズドラ Pazzle & Dragons

12. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
男性20代 Male 20's
男性30代 Male 30's
男性40代 Male 40's
男性50代 Male 50's
男性60才以上 Male 60's and above
女性20代 Female 20's
女性30代 Female 30's
女性40代 Female 40's
女性50代 Female 50's
女性60才以上 Female 60's and above
合計 Total
課金額（1月あたり最高額）（有力8タイトルプレイ者）N=2568
Amount of charge (highest amount among play months) of those who play major 8 game titles
Never payed 1,000円以下 not greater than 1000 yen 1,001円～5,000円 1000-5000 yen
5,001円～10,000円 5001-10000yen 10,001円～30,000円 10001-30000yen 30,001円～50,000円 30001-50000yen
50,000円以上 more than 50000yen

13. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
男性20代 Male 20's
男性30代 Male 30's
男性40代 Male 40's
男性50代 Male 50's
男性60才以上 Male 60's and above
女性20代 Female 20's
女性30代 Female 30's
女性40代 Female 40's
女性50代 Female 50's
女性60才以上 Female 60's and above
スマホゲームを始めてから支出が減った項目（「はい」と回答した％）
（有力8タイトルプレイ者）N=2568
Expense items which decreased after smartphone game play ( % of yes)
of those who play major 8 game titles
日常生活費 Living expenses 上記３つ以外の娯楽 Other entertainment except above items
交際費 Social expenses タバコ Cigarette
パチンコ Pachinco
支出が減った項目がない人の割合
Percentage of no change of amount
of expense
男性20代 Male 20's 63.1
男性30代 Male 30's 52.7
男性40代 Male 40's 60.2
男性50代 Male 50's 67.0
男性60才以上 Male 60's and
above
65.7
女性20代 Female 20's 73.1
女性30代 Female 30's 73.5
女性40代 Female 40's 81.0
女性50代 Female 50's 82.4
女性60才以上 Female 60's
and above
88.5

14. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Never payed
1,000円以下 not greater than 1000
yen
1,001円～5,000円 1000-5000 yen
5,001円～10,000円 5001-10000yen
10,001円～30,000円 10001-
30000yen
30,001円～50,000円 30001-
50000yen
50,000円以上 more than 50000yen
課金額（1月あたり最高額）× 支出が減った項目（％） N=2568
Highest amount of payment (among play months) X Expense items which decreased (%)
日常生活費 Living expenses 上記３つ以外の娯楽 Other entertainment except above items
交際費 Social expenses タバコ Cigarette
パチンコ Pachinco
支出が減った項目がない人の割合（％）
Percentage of no change of amount of expense
Never payed
85.25
10,001円～30,000円 10001-30000yen
46.4
3
1,000円以下 not greater than 1000 yen
61.04
30,001円～50,000円 30001-50000yen
41.3
8
1,001円～5,000円 1000-5000 yen
43.25
50,000円以上 more than 50000yen
45.1
6
5,001円～10,000円 5001-10000yen
38.6

15. Pokémon GO players data

16. プレイ歴 Players experience(N=1000)
289 215 181 103 106 106
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
walk distance
>50km 50～100km 101～300km 301～500km 501～1,000km 1,001km and more
677 216 78 29
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
start date
July 22nd ~August 31th,2016 September~December,2016
January-July,2017 July~,2017(after version upgrade)

17. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ゲームに興味 Interested in
ポケモンシリーズが好き Like Pokemon series
身近な人がプレイ Close person play
流行ってた Popular
ニュースで話題 Talked in the news
開始理由（N=1000）
Reason to start playing
そう思わない Not agree
どちらかと言えばそう思わない Somewhat not agree
どちらともいえない Neutral
どちらかと言えばそう思う Somewhat agree
そう思う Agree

18. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ゲームが面白い Interesting
ポケモンシリーズが好き Like Pokemon series
運動になる For exercise
他プレイヤーの交流 Communicatoin with other players
図鑑を埋めたい Completion of collection
過去の課金がもったいない For not to waste past payment
継続理由（N=1000）
Reason to continue
n.a. そう思わない Not agree
どちらかと言えばそう思わない Somewhat not agree どちらともいえない Neutral
どちらかと言えばそう思う Somewhat agree そう思う Agree

19. プレイしている場所（N=1000）
Place of play
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
街の中心部 Downtown
自宅周辺 Around home
最寄り駅周辺 Around the nearest stations
通学・勤務先周辺 Places around school/work site
行きつけの場所 Places of frequent visits
初めて訪問した場所 Places of first visits
ポケモンの巣 Nest of Pokemon
よくプレイする Frequently 時々プレイする Sometimes ほとんどない Rarely 一度も無い Never

20. プレイの影響（N=1000）
Effects of play
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
運動量が増えた Increased amount of exercise
外出頻度が増えた Increased frequency of going out
外出先バリエーションが増えた Increased variety of…
1日の活動時間が延びた Increased activity time of a day
健康になった Become healthy
友人が増えた Have more friends
家族との会話が増えた Increased communication with family
そう思わない Not agree どちらかと言えばそう思わない Somewhat not agree
どちらともいえない Neutral どちらかと言えばそう思う Somewhat agree
そう思う Agree

21. Shopping activity
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
buy some drink
café
restaurant
other shopping
very often sometimes rare never

22. 購入したもの（％）
Items purchased
50キロ未満
less than
50km
50キロ～100
キロまで 50-
100km
101キロ～300
キロまで 101-
300km
301キロ～500
キロまで 301-
500km
501キロ～1,000キ
ロまで 501-
1000km
1,001キロ以上
more than
1001km
モンスターボール Monster ball 14.53 32.56 39.78 27.18 18.87 18.87
お香 Incense 4.15 17.67 18.78 14.56 16.04 12.26
しあわせタマゴ Happy eggs 4.84 18.6 25.41 16.5 23.58 18.87
ルアーモジュール Lure module 3.11 12.56 12.15 12.62 14.15 9.43
ふかそうち Incubator 2.42 12.56 17.68 14.56 24.53 24.53
バッグUG Bag upgrade 2.77 14.42 12.15 13.59 21.7 26.42
ポケモンボックスUG Pokemon Box
upgrade
3.11 17.67 15.47 14.56 21.7 25.47
服装・アクセサリ Clothing and
accessories
4.15 9.3 9.39 11.65 9.43 6.6
プレミアムレイドパス Premium
raid pass
0.69 2.33 1.66 0.97 2.83 2.83
その他 Others 0.69 2.33 1.66 0.97 2.83 2.83
無購入 No purchase 79.93 52.56 49.72 62.14 66.04 63.21

23. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
面白くなった More interesting
ログイン頻度が増えた Increased frequency of login
課金額が増えた Increased payment
歩く距離が増えた Increased walk distance
バージョンアップの影響（N=1000）
Effect of version upgrade
n.a. そう思わない Not agree
どちらかと言えばそう思わない Somewhat not agree どちらともいえない Neutral
どちらかと言えばそう思う Somewhat agree そう思う Agree

24. Near Shibaura Institute of Technology,
Toyosu Campus(Tokyo)
Many players works IHI (Ishikawajima Harima Industry) next to our campus.

25. Manseibashi
(near Akihabara Station, Tokyo)

26. Short summary
• Smartphone game player
• Old & classic games are still popular
• Puzzle & Dragons, Monster Strike, THE IDOLM@STER…
• Female: tsum tsum
• Pokemon Go: most popular among 50’s and 60’s
• Some of them reduce social expence or even living expence
• Smartphone game market affected pachinko market
• Pokemon Go player
• Monster ball is most purchased item.
• Side economic effect(shopping, touring,…etc) is very limited.