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Japanese Gamers Hesitate to Leave Positive Reviews, Study Finds
The new research reveals another of Japan's important distinguishing features: Whereas local video game markets each exhibit their own traits, players there are highly reluctant to leave comments praising games they enjoy. Findings in the study confirm and further investigate that tendency.
Research Highlights the Trend
Automaton published research surveying over 5,000 of its Japanese readers to study their habits about writing reviews. The results were quite interesting indeed; there are some:
- Only 11.1% of respondents said they leave positive reviews for games they like.
- 24.3% stated they do so sometimes, while
- Most of the participants rarely or even never leave positive reviews.
Impact on Indie Developers
This is of real effect, especially on small local indie developers. Some respondents to this survey admitted they needed to change their habits since the lack of confirmation of good feedback is hurting those small creators. Without enough positive reviews, these developers' games would typically be deprived of the basic figures for outreach beyond the decided local limits.
One participant shared the moment of realization:
"Recently, I saw a message saying the Japanese gaming market is considered complicated since people leave negative reviews but very few positive ones-most often encouraging gamers to post positive reviews on the games they liked. That statement made me realize: I've played more than one hundred games on Steam and haven't left a single positive review. So now I'll try to do that more actively."
Why the Hesitation
The research also revealed reasons behind this behavior. By and large, Japanese gamers seem to be quite introspective and careful, and this paradoxically stops them from posting reviews. The most common reasons, apart from those mentioned, seem to be:
- Duplicity: Speculate there already has been someone who has done sufficiently well on describing what the game is all about, so why go through all that trouble to write a review.
- Fear of Judgment: Many are afraid of being decimated by an unsolicited criticism or utter disapproval of their shared view.
This cultural nuance is yet another challenge to face within one of the biggest gaming markets in the world.
