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- Japanese game companies greatly outpaced their Western counterparts in the stock market growth in 2024.
- While some Western companies saw modest stock growth, others faced sharp declines, with a few reaching one-year lows.
- Despite challenges like layoffs and lower sales, the overall gaming industry’s outlook for 2025 remains positive with growth potential.
In 2024, Japanese video game companies outperformed their Western rivals on the stock market by a significant margin. Konami led the way with a 95.97% increase in stock value mostly thanks to the Silent Hill 2 remake, followed by Sega with a 49.32% rise.
Why it matters: Although it was a tough year for Western gaming companies, Japanese companies continued to thrive.
Thanks to their portfolio of outstanding games, 2024 was a stellar year for Japanese gaming firms on the stock market. Capcom saw a 46.03% boost, Bandai Namco grew by 31.63%,
Nintendo increased by 29.10%, Sony went up by 28.64%, Square Enix rose by 15.63%, and Koei Tecmo gained 12.41%. Kadokawa, the parent company of FromSoftware, also experienced an 8.98% increase.
In comparison, Western game companies had mostly disappointing results. CD Projekt Red’s stock grew by 71.09% after The Witcher 4 announcement, and Roblox’s by 34.54%. Take-Two Interactive saw a 15.58% increase, Embracer Group grew by 10.96%, and EA rose by 7.75%.
On the other hand, Unity Software’s stock dropped by 42.07%, Ubisoft’s fell by over 45%, and Remedy Entertainment decreased by 44.25%.
It was a tough year for Ubisoft, as its stock fell to a historic one-year low. Meanwhile, Remedy confirmed Alan Wake 2 is still not profitable, hence a drop in the company’s stocks.
The Japanese gaming industry has shown resilience, boosted by strong domestic policies and a stabilizing yen in Japan. Experts believe these factors, along with smart investment moves, helped drive the sector’s strong performance at the end of the year.
Although 2024 was a profitable year for many gaming companies, it also came with major challenges. Industry-wide layoffs pointed to efforts to streamline operations and protect shareholder value.
The post-pandemic period led to lower sales forecasts and some big game release disappointments, making recovery difficult.
However, despite over 25,000 layoffs between 2023 and 2024, the gaming industry is set to keep growing in 2025. Experts are optimistic about the industry’s future and suggest investors consider buying more video game stocks.
Take-Two Interactive is a standout, especially with the expected release of GTA 6 in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the past, Take-Two’s stock has performed well before major game releases, with an average return of 30%.
What do you think about the performance of Japanese versus Western gaming companies in 2024? Drop your thoughts in the comments, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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