2014 CESA Games White Paper

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
The 2014 CESA Games White Paper reports the Japanese domestic home video game market (hardware and packaged software) at 409.5 billion yen, with an additional 10.3 billion yen in the digital download software market.
02
The global home video game market is estimated at 2.8222 trillion yen, comprising 1.1172 trillion yen in hardware and 1.705 trillion yen in software.
03
The Wii reached a global cumulative hardware shipment milestone of over 100.9 million units, becoming the fifth platform in history to surpass the 100 million unit threshold.
04
In 2013, there were only five titles in the Japanese domestic market that achieved over 1 million units in shipments, with 'Pokémon X/Y' for the 3DS leading at 4.34 million units.
05
CESA implemented significant changes to its survey methodology and design for the 2014 report, meaning current figures are not directly comparable to historical data and should be treated as reference values.
06
The 210-page report is published in a bilingual Japanese/English format and includes a special contribution from Keiko Erikawa, Chairperson of the Digital Media Association, titled '20 Years with Digital Media'.

Summary

The 2014 CESA Games White Paper serves as a comprehensive annual industry report detailing the state of the home video game market. Published by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, the document provides a quantitative analysis of hardware and software shipments, alongside consumer behavior insights derived from surveys conducted in Japan and South Korea. To improve accuracy in a rapidly evolving market, the methodology for this edition was significantly revised, meaning the data presented is not directly comparable to historical figures and should be treated as a new baseline.

Key findings indicate that the Japanese domestic home video game market reached a total value of 4,095 billion yen, comprising 1,558 billion yen in hardware and 2,537 billion yen in packaged software, with an additional 103 billion yen attributed to the digital download market. On a global scale, the home video game industry was estimated at 2,822.2 billion yen, split between 1,117.2 billion yen for hardware and 1,705 billion yen for software. The report also highlights significant hardware milestones, noting that the Wii surpassed 100 million units in cumulative global shipments, becoming the fifth platform in history to achieve this threshold.

Regarding software performance, the domestic market saw five titles achieve million-seller status in 2013, with Pokémon X and Y leading the industry with 4.34 million units shipped by the end of the year. The report, which is presented in a bilingual Japanese-English format, also features expert commentary on the evolution of digital media. By consolidating manufacturer shipment data and international market estimates, the publication provides a structured overview of the industry's economic footprint and performance trends as of 2014.