The video game market wouldn’t be what it is today without Asia, particularly China and Japan, which have both influenced the market in a way that no country outside of the United States can boast. Mobile gaming is no exception, as both nations as well as the rest of Asia have shown that they will continue to influence and shape the gaming world for years to come.
Asia has inspired and dominated the global video-game market since the past decade and has given no sign of relinquishing its throne. Japan and China represent two of the top three video-game markets in the world, and the Asia-Pacific region generated $12.2 billion in mobile game revenue in 2014, as compared to $4.9 billion and $3.2 billion for North America and Western Europe, respectively. These staggering numbers are partly the result of supportive local ecosystems for game development, which encourage both large corporations and independent developers to thrive. For instance, Tencent had more revenue than Activision-Blizzard in 2013 thanks to its majority ownership of Riot Games, maker of League of Legends.