Comparison of esports between Japan and developed countries (US, Europe, Korea, China) focusing on the wave of industrial development

From “Game” to “Sport” and into “Media Entertainment”

Abstract

In 2018, the global esports market reached $ 8.65 billion. However, the size of the esports market in Japan was 4.83 billion yen, which is lower than the global esports market size. The United States, Europe, South Korea, and China are called esports advanced countries, but Japan is often described as a developing esports country. In this study, we looked at the Japanese esports industry through comparison with each countries. In conclusion, the slow development of the esports industry in Japan is due to the lack of a system. Because there were no companies, organizations or communities that could build the system. Taylor (2018) writes that there are three waves in the industrial development of esports. The first wave is “Game”, the second wave is “Sport”, and the third wave is “Media Entertainment”. We think that the second wave “Sport” has come to Japan.