10 Video Game Franchises That Are Big in Japan

Japan’s gaming landscape is dominated by some of the industry’s longest-running and most successful franchises. On the whole, gaming is inextricably tied to Japan, with major hardware manufacturers and publishers like Sony and Nintendo calling the country home long before they ever started a gaming division. Each of the following franchises has helped to inform and evolve the gaming industry and gaming culture thanks to not just the interactive experiences themselves, but fashion, multimedia adaptations, and even theme parks. Thanks to the strong support of the Japanese gaming community, these aren’t just franchises that are big in Japan, but instead global powerhouses that have a cross-cultural impact.

• First Game — Revelations: Persona (1996)
• Most Recent Game — Persona 5: The Phantom X (2025)
• Developer — Atlus, Arc System Works
• Publisher — Atlus, ASCII Corporation
• Total Series Sales — 23.5 million units sold

The Persona series has evolved from its humble beginnings as a cult JRPG spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei into one of Japan’s most stylish and prolific gaming franchises. The series was always successful in its own right, but 2016’s Persona 5 took the franchise to new heights. It sold over 500,000 copies in Japan at launch, propelling the Persona franchise into the mainstream and helping it finally break out of its niche status in the West. While it isn’t the largest franchise in Japan, it’s arguably one of the most influential and important gaming icons of the last few years.

• First Game — Dragon Quest (1986)
• Most Recent Game — Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (2024)
• Developer — Chunsoft, Heartbeat, Level-5
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Total Series Sales — 94 million units sold

Dragon Quest isn’t just a popular RPG franchise in Japan; it is THE popular RPG franchise. Many people consider it a cornerstone of Japan’s cultural heritage, almost like baseball is to America. Dragon Quest has had a tight grip on Japan since the initial game on the Famicom, and each subsequent mainline release has been treated like a national holiday. Even with it having been almost 10 years since the last mainline entry, sales of Dragon Quest merch and media have hardly slowed at all, and the recent wave of HD-2D remakes of the original trilogy has been a certified sales driver for Square Enix.

• First Game — Final Fantasy (1987)
• Most Recent Game — Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail (2024)
• Developer — Square, Square Enix
• Publisher — Square, Square Enix
• Total Series Sales — 200 million units sold

Right up there with Dragon Quest as one of Japan’s biggest franchises is its onetime competitor and fellow JRPG innovator — Final Fantasy. Over the past 35 years, the franchise has maintained a steady and devoted fan base in Japan and in the West, but we have Japan to thank for the continued success of the series’ MMORPG entries like Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. On its own, Japan hosts several hundred thousand active players, with the release of 2021’s Endwalker expansion being so anticipated that it made national headlines.

• First Game — The Legend of Zelda (1986)
• Most Recent Game — The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024)
• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Neisonic Industries, Epoch Co.
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Total Series Sales — 170 million units sold

While The Legend of Zelda has always been a popular franchise in Japan, 2017’s Breath of the Wild sent the series to new heights. Its open-world design was able to attract a broader Japanese audience, and Tears of the Kingdom did much the same, selling 2 million copies within just the first couple of days of its release. For the most part, Nintendo’s franchises are all hugely popular in Japan, so it comes as no surprise to see that the very Japan-adjacent open-world Zelda games have been the series’ greatest successes to date.

• First Game — Minecraft (2009)
• Most Recent Game — Minecraft Legends (2023)
• Developer — Mojang, Telltale Games, Blackbird Interactive
• Publisher — Mojang, Telltale Games, Xbox Game Studios
• Total Series Sales — 300 million copies sold

It isn’t often that foreign franchises can translate successfully to Japan’s gaming culture. But Minecraft isn’t just any game, and Japan played a significant role in the title’s place as the best-selling video game of all time. Much like it was everywhere else around the globe, Minecraft‘s open-world sandbox was a massive hit with Japanese youth. The game’s emphasis on creative freedom and accessibility has even helped it get to the point where it’s been adopted in Japan’s traditionally conservative education system, with some schools utilizing it to teach programming and architecture.

• First Game — Monster Hunter (2004)
• Most Recent Game — Monster Hunter Wilds (2025)
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Total Series Sales — 120 million units sold

Monster Hunter has always been a gaming juggernaut in Japan, long before the series ever caught on in the West. The original entry on PS2 was marginally successful, but true Monster Hunter mania kicked off in the 2000s thanks to several entries on the PSP that thrived on local co-op. In fact, you could say that the series’ modern-day emphasis on seamless co-op that’s helped it become one of Capcom’s most successful franchises owes a debt to those PSP entries. Cooperative gameplay and gaming in social settings are typically recipes for success in Japan, and they can be cited as one of the reasons the Monster Hunter franchise remains a huge hit in the country.

• First Game — Dobutsu no Mori (Japan only) (2001)
• Most Recent Game — Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete (2024)
• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EPD, NDcube
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Total Series Sales — 81 million units sold

Animal Crossing has always been beloved in Japan, but its popularity reached an apex with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. New Horizons‘ launch coincided with the global lockdowns to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and while it was a cultural phenomenon globally, it didn’t take long before Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the best-selling video game in Japan’s history (at the time). Like a lot of the other franchises on the list, Animal Crossing continues to resonate with people of all ages, offering a relaxing escape from the pressures of the daily world.

• First Game — Splatoon
• Most Recent Game — Splatoon 3: Side Order
• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Total Series Sales — 30 million units sold

If any title can hold a candle to Minecraft’s sway over the Japanese youth, it’s Splatoon. The ink-slinging team shooter struck a chord culturally as soon as it was released, going on to become one of the main system-sellers on the Wii U and then, more significantly, on the Switch. It’s easy to pick up and play in short bursts, making it one of the best games for busy students. Nintendo’s heavy local marketing push also helped, making sure that Splatoon was everywhere in Japan. The series’ popularity was so profound that Splatoon 3 still holds the record for being the fastest-selling game in Japan’s history.

• First Game — Pocket Monsters Red and Green (Japan only) (1996)
• Most Recent Game — Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (2022)
• Developer — Game Freak, ILCA
• Publisher — Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
• Total Series Sales — 489 million units sold.

Pokémon practically needs no introduction. It is the best-selling media franchise of all time and, by extension, one of the best-selling video games in Japan. It’s been almost 30 years since the franchise’s debut, and Pokémon still has a stranglehold on Japanese gaming culture as a whole. Even Pokémon GO still draws massive crowds to real-world events years after its initial craze has died down. A combination of record-breaking sales, continuous high-quality game releases, and profound cultural relevance makes it one of Japan’s top franchises, only rivaled by one other…

• First Game — Super Mario Bros. (1985)
• Most Recent Game — Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)
• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Total Series Sales — 900 million units sold.

Super Mario is easily one of Japan’s most important exports and an enduring touchstone for its gaming culture. It is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, and in Japan, its popularity spans generations and helped establish Nintendo as one of the country’s most successful companies. It also happens to be a major innovator within the medium, propelling gaming forward with the original Super Mario Bros. in 1985 and revolutionizing the platformer, then doing the same thing in 3D with Super Mario 64 11 years later.