Leading Gaming Brands in Japan: Q1 2025 Insights

In the dynamic landscape of Japan's gaming industry, several brands have distinguished themselves with substantial audience engagement across websites and apps. This article delves into the performance of three leading brands—LINE Manga (LINEマンガ), Nintendo, and Roblox (Mobile)—from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, highlighting their trends and audience behaviors.

LINE Manga (LINEマンガ)

LINE Manga, available both on manga.line.me and as the LINEマンガ app, remains a significant player in the gaming category.

• Audience Trends: The monthly deduplicated audience held steady above 11M throughout Q1 2025. The app-only visitors consistently surpassed web-only visitors, indicating a mobile-dominant audience.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users hovered around 5M, showing a slight fluctuation but overall stability.

• Ad Spend & Channels: LINE Manga's monthly ad spend peaked in December 2024 at over $1M, with significant impressions primarily through YouTube and TikTok channels.

Nintendo

Nintendo's presence is felt both on nintendo.com and via the Nintendo Switch Parental Cont… app.

• Audience Trends: Q1 2025 saw monthly unique visits peak at over 10M in March, with web-only visitors forming the bulk of the audience.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a stable monthly active user base, with active users around 700K.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Nintendo's monthly ad spend was highest in December 2024, exceeding $1.1M, with YouTube as the leading channel for impressions.

Roblox (Mobile)

Roblox, accessible via roblox.com and the Roblox app, continues to captivate a diverse audience.

• Audience Trends: The monthly deduplicated audience grew steadily, surpassing 4M by March 2025, with a balanced distribution between app and web users.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users remained consistent, averaging around 1.6M.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Monthly ad spend was minimal compared to other brands, with YouTube being the primary channel for modest impressions.

Conclusion

These insights underscore the unique strengths of each brand in Japan's gaming sector. LINE Manga's mobile dominance, Nintendo's robust web presence, and Roblox's balanced audience distribution highlight the diverse strategies employed by leading brands. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offerings, including Web Insights, Pathmatics, and App Performance Insights, provide unparalleled insights into these trends, essential for understanding cross-platform user behavior in today's digital landscape. By leveraging these insights, decision-makers can optimize strategies and drive growth effectively.