HARRY_HOLMWOOD_Marvelous_Introduction to doing business in Japan

1. Marvelous AQL Europe
www.maqleurope.com
www.marvelousgames.com
IntroductiontoDoing
BusinessinJapan
Harry Holmwood
CEO, Marvelous AQL Europe

2. AboutMarvelousAQL
• Japanese, publicly listed mobile, console and web
game publisher
• Console titles like Harvest Moon, No More
Heroes, Senran Kagura, Half Minute Hero,
Valhalla Knights, Soul Sacrifice
• PC/Mobile titles including Logres(MMO), 3
Kingdoms,
• MAQL Europe oversees western digital business
• Publishing titles in western and Asian markets
• Investing in titles and studios

3. WhyJapan?
• Mobile business extremely strong
• F2P long established
• Highest ARPU in the world

4. WesternGamesBreakingThrough
• Apple, Google, LINE etc receptive to western
content
• Japanese customers opening up to western
games
• Clash of Clans
• Candy Crush
• Runbot – Feature
support in Japan
4

5. JapanesevsWesternMobileGames
• Evolved from different places
• Japanese mobile games derived from featurephone
games
• Western mobile games derived from console games
• Converging to similar places
• Smartphone games are neither console nor
featurephone games
• Apple are dominating phone sales
• 75%+ of phone sales are now iPhone

6. Don’tPanic
• Japanese society has a lot of rules about
hierarchy and politeness
• …but a non-Japanese person would not be
expected to adhere to them
• More important to understand how Japanese
company culture works than to worry about
some of the ‘rituals’

7. BasicEtiquette
• Be polite
• Have a business card with your name and job
title in Japanese
• Treat business cards with respect

8. CompanyCulture
• Try to understand how Japanese
companies operate
• Don’t expect them to be
‘westernised’
• Don’t be pushy, loud or abrasive
• Contracts are less important than
trust
8

9. JapaneseBusinessApproach
• Consensus is key
• Meetings are for information gathering, not
decision making
• Less direct/confrontational - keen to nurture
harmony
• Long term thinking / partnerships
• Oral agreements

10. LanguageAdvice
• If dealing in English, slow down and be clear
• Typically people will not tell you if they don’t
understand
• It is your job to make sure you are
• Much discussion will take place in Japanese
• Ideally, take an interpreter with you to
important meetings

11. RelationshipBuilding
• Smart small and build – long term
relationships are key
• Make it easy for Japanese company to say
‘yes’ to something
• Social as well as business relationships are
important
• Introduction by friend/colleague is best

12. GameStyleDifferences
• Different assumptions about
what audience already
knows
• Bigger focus on gacha,
collection, fusion
• One-handed operation,
portrait mode
• Quick bursts of gameplay
• Guilds and social features

13. Opportunities
• Casual/mid core titles with simple core
gameplay but depth
• Western mobile developers excelling at 3D,
tactile experiences
• Apple/Google/LINE and others all keen to
engage with western developers
• Want to help with culturalization, marketing,
partnerships, operations

14. 14
ut Japan, F2P, funding, publishing or
e now or… harry@maqleurope.com
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