Japan is often regarded as the home of video games, as the country is home to some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Nintendo, Sony, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix. However, that doesn't mean that everything that makes it big there manages to achieve international success.
Still, plenty of video game franchises are so immensely popular in Japan that they manage to succeed and generate millions in profit, despite being virtually unknown in the international market. The following seven games made it big in Japan but struggled to garner much attention or sales outside of the country.
7 Another Century's Episode
Another Century's Episode is a popular Japanese video game series that sees players take control of giant mechs from across several different anime franchises. The series began relatively recently, with the first game for PlayStation 2 in 2005.
Another Century's Episode was a regularly appearing product in the Japanese market in the years that followed, releasing four more games in the next six years. It's been absent since then, but for a short while, Another Century's Episode was very popular in Japan despite never appearing internationally.
6 Arc The Lad
Arc The Lad is a series of tactical role-playing games that were published by Sony and released on PlayStation in 1995. It spawned two sequels in the 90s, and the trilogy was released as Arc The Lad Collection in North America in 2002 after years of campaigning by diehard RPG fans.
The trilogy collection didn't sell all that well despite receiving solid reviews, but it did encourage publishers to release the next two games in North America as well. Unfortunately, this is when the series struggled and started to receive mixed feedback, disappearing from home consoles shortly after.
5 Super Robot Wars
Super Robot Wars is exactly what it sounds like. The franchise sees several of the most popular mechs and anime characters crossing over to battle with one another in a tactical RPG. It should come as no surprise that the series is immensely popular in Japan, the home of giant mech-battles.
The franchise has been going strong for over thirty years, but Super Robot Wars 30 was the first of the mainline series to be released in the west. The thirtieth installment in the series gave fans plenty to love but still wasn't all that popular outside of Japan.
4 Boku No Natsuyasumi
Boku No Natsuyasumi translates literally to 'My Summer Vacation,' and that's exactly what it is. In each of the four mainline entries to the series, players take control of a young boy who is spending his summer vacation in a different area of the country.
The first three Boku No Natsuyasumi games were set in 1975, with the fourth set in 1985. In each one, the player engages in different activities over the course of his vacation, like bug-catching and swimming. It's easy to see why the series wasn't released outside of Japan, as it's a very specific niche.
3 Derby Stallion
Derby Stallion is a classic Japanese horse-racing business-simulation franchise that started back in 1992. The goal of the game is to engage in activities like breeding, trading, and breaking horses in between each race to improve the player's chances of winning. It's a fairly simple concept but one that has been developed over the years to have tremendous depth.
Derby Stallion actually has everything needed to succeed in the west, where there's already a big market for business simulation games. If given a chance, it's possible that Derby Stallion could find itself positioned among the best business simulation games available.
2 Sakura Wars
Sakura Wars is a series of role-playing games that lean heavily on the dating aspect of life. They're popular in Japan and are often regarded as being among the best harem games available. Although there have been a few releases that were made available internationally, it should come as no surprise that they haven't been that popular.
Harem games, in general, aren't overly successful in the west, and the franchise's steampunk setting might have seemed like too specific a niche to appeal to most players. This might also explain why Sega has often been hesitant to release Sakura Wars outside of Japan.
1 Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown is a great fighting game series developed by SNK, and some of the entries are among the best SNK fighting games ever. The series started out life as an arcade game but quickly transitioned to home consoles in the 90s.
Samurai Shodown has become known for its signature 'rage' gauge and for having plenty of strong characters. Although the series is available internationally and has a reasonable fan base in the west, it has never reached anywhere near the same heights as it has in Japan.