Serkan Toto is the CEO and founder of Kantan Games, an independent consultancy that has focused on Japan’s games industry for over a decade. The company’s main focus is mobile, console, PC, and Web3 gaming, and its main client groups are financial institutions and major global game studios.
Our interview with Serkan covers the Japanese market, the relationship between the Japanese and Turkish gaming industry, future opportunities in the market, and more!
Japan remains one of the most influential gaming markets globally. From your perspective, what makes the Japanese market so resilient and unique, especially in 2025?
In Japan, gaming as an industry, art form and part of culture is enjoying the highest level of attention of all countries worldwide. The local market is very mature, multi-layered and produces games that are generally of the highest quality.
Japan is also the home of some of the most iconic studios and brands in the world, such as Nintendo, Sony or Pokemon – a mix of creative and commercial power that still cannot be found elsewhere.
For international studios, especially those from emerging markets like Turkiye, what are the key trends or consumer behaviours they need to understand before entering the Japanese market?
So Japanese consumers are very open to well-made Western games, but only if they offer mechanics that local studios have ignored, such as Match-3 games with meta elements and narratives.
Are there specific genres or game types that continue to perform particularly well in Japan? What should studios focus on if they want to succeed with local audiences?
The biggest genre by far, on all platforms, are RPGs in all forms: action RPGs, puzzle RPGs, narrative RPGs etc. Western-made mobile RPGs, including blockbusters that do well in the US or Europe, have all failed in Japan – the local studios simply know better what Japanese fans of this genre want and are also much, much better at monetizing them.
We know localization is more than translation. What are the most common mistakes foreign developers make when trying to tailor their games for Japanese players?
I would generally advise Western studios NOT to localize their games (translations, however, are a must). It is much, much wiser to keep the spirit and the foreignness of your app intact when you enter Japan – including graphics, character design and other elements.
Please do not think you need to include blue-haired “sexy anime girls” into your games to appeal to local players – chances are they will just laugh at you and move on.
Have you seen any studios from Turkiye already gaining traction in Japan, or do you believe there’s untapped potential for Turkish developers in this region?
Despite Japan’s reputation as a tough market to crack, there are Turkish app makers that are successful here, first Peak and then Dream Games. Local players appreciate the clever design, high production value and innovation these titles offer when compared to even the best Japanese mobile games.
If studios from Turkiye have high-quality games that work well elsewhere and where competition by Japanese companies is low or does not exist, Japan is of course a market well worth to at least explore.
What advice would you give to a mid-size international studio looking to build partnerships, publish, or distribute their game in Japan? What are the dos and don’ts when working with Japanese publishers or platforms?
My advice is obviously to hire an experienced consultant in Japan, i.e. yours truly!
The reason is that there is simply no way that a foreign game company can even understand the Japanese market where language barriers, different customer tastes, monetization, marketing etc. are completely different.
You can of course enter Japan by yourself as well – after 15 years in this business, I can guarantee you however, this will take longer, suck up more of your energy and cost you more than working with a consultancy for a few weeks or months that can do the initial heavy lifting and avoid a ton of headache.
Looking ahead, what areas of opportunity do you foresee for foreign developers in Japan over the next 2–3 years, whether in mobile, console, or emerging tech like Web3 or XR?
With a 70% share of all revenue in gaming, mobile is king in Japan. If you have a polished and well-made game that offers gameplay innovation or unique mechanics not available in Japanese titles, Japan as the No. 3 market in the world is definitely worth at least a look.
On console, the Nintendo Switch is king of all platforms, and here too, the acceptance of the Japanese audience for Western games has only gone up over the last several years.
In terms of Web3 gaming, Japan is the biggest addressable market in Asia, as China puts heavy restrictions on the crypto industry. I understand Chinese consumers have workarounds, but the official stance in China itself is clearly anti-crypto.
Japan has a population of 125 million people, is THE country of gaming, home to the 4th largest economy in the world and has an audience of active crypto investors that were largely unaffected by the recent scandals such as FTX or LUNA.
This is not to say that all players in Japan are necessarily hungry for Web3, but they are a lot more open to crypto gaming than their counterparts in the US or Europe, where prejudice and a lack of knowledge are big hurdles for studios.
