Japan E-sports Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2025-2033)

Japan E-sports Market Size & Forecast

The Japan E-sports market was valued at USD ~124.7 million in 2024 and is expected to grow to a strong CAGR of around 11.3% during the forecast period (2025-2033F), owing to the increasing online viewership and expanding corporate sponsorships.

Japan E-sports Market Analysis

Japan’s esports market has been witnessing significant growth due to several reasons, such as the culturalization of gaming, the advancement of technology, and the enhancement in institutional support. Esports is seen as a structured form of competitive gaming and involves professional tournaments, platforms for streaming, assembly of teams, and the community of esports fans down to each other. The old gaming culture of Japan, which was the brainchild of such legendary games as Street Fighter and Pokémon, offers a great environment for esports evolution. The active position of the government, including the activities aimed at developing esports as a legal sphere as well, promotes such growth even further. And not only that, but invoking esports in the sphere of educational institutions, where the universities are educating about esports management, is a change in society that indicates the fact that esports is a career.  

In the future, the Japanese esports market is set for further development, with some of its segments experiencing a specific fast pace of development. Sponsorship has become the biggest revenue-generating segment in line with the increase in brands that are looking forward to penetrating the separate esports audience. Media rights are also growing at a fast pace, as a result of the increase in live streaming and consumption of content. During the first half of 2024, streams from Japan accumulated more than 2.17 billion hours watched, representing a 39.4% growth against the first half of 2023. This surge is a reflection of an increasing demand for esports content and monetization opportunities integrated into the said content. Furthermore, the emergence and proliferation of virtual influencers, or VTubers, is restructuring the content scene, with streams of Japanese VTubers racking up more than 513 million hours watched in the first half of 2024.

In November 2024, ITOCHU Corporation announced a capital and business alliance with REJECT Inc., a leading Japanese esports team known for its significant prize winnings. This partnership aims to leverage ITOCHU's global network to enhance REJECT's brand presence both domestically and internationally. On the investment front, Japanese esports content provider PlayBrain has announced a $6 million Series A financing round led by Bitkraft Esports Ventures. With the investment, PlayBrain plans to expand into other esports and entertainment properties, grow its footprint, and increase support for the League of Legends Japan League.

Japan E-sports Market Trends

This section discusses the key market trends that are influencing the various segments of the Japan E-sports market, as found by our team of research experts.

Rapid Growth in Esports Viewership

There is a steep increase being noted in Japan on esports viewers, where hours watched were up by 16% in Q1 2024, with 28.1 million hours watched. VALORANT is leading this trend and registered 19.7 million watched hours, due to events such as the VALORANT Champions Tour. Pacific Kickoff and Challenges, Japan were even in terms of splitting one. Such a surge in popularity is triggered by the increasing demand for professional teams, like ZETA DIVISION or Crazy Raccoon, as well as easier access to the high-quality streaming offered on websites such as Twitch Japan, YouTube Gaming, or Mildom. As more tournaments are conducted at all times, fan engagement and brand sponsorships are also skyrocketing.

Mobile Esports Expansion Accelerated by 5G

The segment of mobile esports is on a rapid increase based on a huge number of smartphone users in Japan and an enhanced connection through 5G. Such games include PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Mobile Legends. There has been a massive take-up at Bang Bang among the 15-25 year olds for whom mobile is good because of portability and low barriers to entry on hardware requirements. By the estimates of App Annie, the number of downloads for the competitive mobile games in Japan went up 21% YoY in 2024. The mobile esports content viewership increased by 30% due to the community tournaments and streams of local leagues. Telecom vendors are setting the pace by sponsoring mobile tournaments to show off network capabilities as they transform mobile gaming into a highlight of growth.

Sponsorships and Media Rights Dominate Revenues

Advertising and Sponsorships are still the primary source of revenue in the esports market of Japan in the year 2024. Throughout the beverages, apparel, and electronics, brands such as Red Bull, Asahi, and Puma are collaborating with the best teams and events to get closer to the Gen Z consumers. Meanwhile, Media Rights is the fastest-growing revenue stream, with broadcast networks and streaming services competing for rights to exclusive tournament coverage. Such an increase will indicate high monetization potential of organizers and rights holders, further professionalizing the industry.

Japan E-sports Industry Segmentation

This section provides an analysis of the key trends in each segment of the Japan E-sports market report, along with forecasts at the regional and state levels for 2025-2033.

The Advertising and Sponsorships market held the dominant share of the Japan E-sports market in 2024.

Based on the Revenue Model, the market is segmented into Media Rights, Advertising and Sponsorships, Merchandise and Tickets, and Others. Among these, the Advertising and Sponsorships segment is leading the market. In the Advertising and Sponsorships segment of Japan’s esports market, the growth of the audience and the highly engaged gaming audience is the main stimulator, which creates a promising opportunity for brands in need of reaching a specific range of consumers. As the viewership of esports has been growing, in particular, among the Gen Z and millennial demographics, esports investment has been rising among companies in a variety of industries, including consumer electronics, apparel, food and beverages, and automotive. Big Japanese publishers such as Capcom and big foreign players such as Riot Games are actively arranging high-calibre tournaments, which are creating premium sponsorship inventory. Also, YouTube, Twitch, and Mildom provide focused spaces for adverts during broadcasts of esports, enhancing brand auspiciousness. The emergence of influencer marketing (particularly esports streamers and VTubers) also helped this category to grow, so that advertisers can now connect with niche, loyal groups in more authentic ways.

The Mobile and Tablets market is expected to grow with a significant CAGR during the forecast period (2025-2033) of the Japan E-sports Market.

Based on the Platform, the market is segmented into PC-based Esports, Console-based Esports, and Mobile and Tablet. Among these, Mobile and Tablets are the largest contributors to the Japanese e-sports industry. The most important motivator of the esports market in Japan’s Mobile and tablet segment is the high prevalence of smartphone users and the growing popularity of mobile games that are accessible through smartphones. Titles such as PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, and Call of Duty Mobile have a huge fanbase, in specific the younger audience, and it is more convenient and accessible to play from portable devices. The fast-advancing mobile network and 5G upgrading in Japan have continued to increase the quality of mobile gaming experience, whereby users are provided with low-latency gaming and real-time multiplayer competition. Further, there has been a snowballing effect on the mobile esports tournaments in the grassroots and at the professional levels, which has been picking up with the supporting institutions being the publishers and the telecom providers. The freemium model of several mobile esports classes also appeals to a broad audience, which adds to the audience and in-game monetization, meaning that the mobile and tablet segment is rapidly developing in the Japanese esports market.

Kanto Region will grow the Japan E-sports market during the forecast period.

The Kanto region (Tokyo and other great urban centres such as Yokohama and Chiba) happens to be the heart of Japan’s esports ecosystem. The dominance of this country comes from a large presence of professional teams and event organizers, and tech that supports competitive gaming. The largest events in esports take place in Tokyo specifically, for example, the RED° Tokyo Tower and esports cafes of Akihabara hold regular tournaments and meetups for fans. The region has also benefited from the existence of top universities and digital infrastructure that which has made it possible for the emergence of collegiate esports programs and startup accelerators in the region as well. Furthermore, numerous game developers and media companies are based in Kanto, making it easier to harmonize the sponsorship arrangements, media rights, and the releases of content. The region is the driving force of the esports market due to vibrant culture, a huge gamer population, and support for digital innovation from the government.

Japan E-sports Industry Competitive Landscape

The Japan E-sports market is competitive, with several global and international market players. The key players are adopting different growth strategies to enhance their market presence, such as partnerships, agreements, collaborations, new product launches, geographical expansions, and mergers and acquisitions.

Top Japan E-sports Companies

Some of the major players in the market are Crazy Raccoon, DetonatioN FocusMe, ZETA DIVISION, CAPCOM, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Riot Games Japan, Cygames, CyberZ/RAGE, YouTube Japan, and Twitch Japan.

Recent Developments in the Japan E-sports Market

• In November 2024, ITOCHU Corporation announced a capital and business alliance with REJECT Inc., a leading Japanese esports team known for its significant prize winnings. This partnership aims to leverage ITOCHU's global network to enhance REJECT's brand presence both domestically and internationally. On the investment front, Japanese esports content provider PlayBrain has announced a $6 million Series A financing round led by Bitkraft Esports Ventures. With the investment, PlayBrain plans to expand into other esports and entertainment properties, grow its footprint, and increase support for the League of Legends Japan League.

Japan E-sports Market Report Coverage

Reasons to Buy the Japan E-sports Market Report:

• The study includes market sizing and forecasting analysis confirmed by authenticated key industry experts.

• The report briefly reviews overall industry performance at a glance.

• The report covers an in-depth analysis of prominent industry peers, primarily focusing on key business financials, type portfolios, expansion strategies, and recent developments.

• Detailed examination of drivers, restraints, key trends, and opportunities prevailing in the industry.

• The study comprehensively covers the market across different segments.

• Deep dive regional level analysis of the industry.

Customization Options:

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