Weekly Anime & Game in Asia 2026-W31 (2026-07-21~2026-07-27)

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on July 1, 2026, that it will cease physical disc production for new PlayStation games released from January 2028. This decision follows a period where physical copies accounted for only 15% of PS5/PS4 game unit sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Marvel also announced a manga partnership with Kadokawa as Shueisha’s Marvel manga contract ends on September 30, and Gameloft dissolved its Japanese subsidiary without giving a public reason.

This Week’s Events

The Sunset of Physical Media and Legacy Licensing

Sony Interactive Entertainment will end physical disc production for new PlayStation titles released from January 2028, despite a 330,000-signature petition from consumers. While Nintendo continues to maintain a higher physical sales ratio—45.4% in the 2026 fiscal year—the industry-wide trend remains clear. Separately, Marvel Comics is partnering with Kadokawa, a Japanese publisher and media conglomerate, to produce original manga adaptations. Separately, Shueisha, a Japanese publisher, said its contract to publish Marvel manga adaptations ends on September 30, 2026.

Gameloft, a French game developer known for the Asphalt series, dissolved its Japanese subsidiary, Gameloft Godo Kaisha, effective June 30, 2026, confirmed through an official gazette notice. No public reason was given, though the closure follows Gameloft’s 2024 shutdown of its Cluj studio in Romania, which cut 136 jobs and was attributed to adjusting production capacity.

Data-Driven Conversion and Platform Gatekeepers

Data from the June 2026 Steam Next Fest, Valve’s recurring showcase where developers publish demos to build interest ahead of launch, was analyzed by How To Market A Game, a game marketing research outlet, which found a median demo-to-wishlist conversion rate of 19.3% across 108 titles. Crucially, the analysis identified a significant volume of users who add titles to wishlists without ever playing the demo; the report suggests the store page may already convey what the game is, the genre may appeal, or the user may be a fan of the studio. Separately, a survey of 3,800 Steam users by GameDiscoverCo, a game market research firm, found that 91.9% of users check reviews before purchasing, with 51.1% hesitating to buy games rated “Mixed” or lower, the yellow badge Steam displays publicly once a title’s positive-review share drops under about 70%. Because a separate 2024 GameDiscoverCo study found that games with a 95% or higher positive rating sold the equivalent of 51% of their wishlist total within one month of launch, compared to just 18% for those rated 70% or lower, Steam’s review status labels have become a critical conversion gatekeeper.

Efficiency Through Modular Infrastructure and Marketing

At MGS WEEK 2026, a Seoul marketing and ad-tech conference, RZR, a demand-side platform for mobile advertising, introduced its “Audience Builder” tool, which segments users by churn risk and projected lifetime value (LTV). By integrating User Acquisition, retargeting, and Connected TV (CTV)—advertising delivered via internet-connected television sets—publishers can suppress ad spend on low-risk users and focus on high-value segments. Separately, RZR’s CTV integration with LG Ads utilizes Automated Content Recognition (ACR), a technology that identifies content displayed on a screen, to track user journeys from TV exposure to mobile installation. Rovio’s Angry Birds 2 serves as a case study for this integrated approach, achieving a 120% target achievement rate in CTV campaigns.

Microsoft launched a test of an ad-supported, free game streaming service for Xbox Insider members in 29 countries. The service offers select titles with a 1-hour session limit and pre-session advertisements, and Xbox has told brands the approach holds only when advertising adds to the experience rather than damaging it.

Pearl Abyss, a Korean game developer, detailed its “World First” development approach for Crimson Desert at CEDEC 2026, Japan’s annual game developers conference. By decoupling environment creation from quest design and transitioning to XML-based custom tools, the studio has reduced team dependencies and rework. The studio also reports unresolved challenges regarding narrative consistency.

Hasbro reported USD 1.14B (JPY 186B) in revenue for Q2 2026 but recorded a USD 56M (JPY 9.1B) impairment loss following the cancellation of multiple digital game projects, and is now prioritizing co-publishing and live-service models to reduce internal development risk. Separately, Cocoro Software, a Japanese independent game developer, had its Spell Fragments selected for IP360, the Content Industry Growth Investment Support Project run by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Its startup-support category took 34 projects from 819 applications, roughly 24 applicants per place, a ratio that shows how many small studios compete for the same limited public backing.

Market Entry and Cross-Media Strategy

The NPPA, China’s National Press and Publication Administration, approved foreign licenses for Aion: Classic (developed by NCSoft, a Korean developer, in partnership with Shengqu Games, a Shanghai-based Chinese online game publisher) and Ragnarok M: Eternal Love 2 (based on the Ragnarok Online IP by Gravity, a Korean developer, with XD, a Chinese game publisher and operator of the TapTap store, as the publisher). These permits, known as banhao, are mandatory before any game built outside China or using non-Chinese intellectual property can operate commercially there, so each approval round works as a gate on foreign market access. Meanwhile, Bandai Namco Filmworks is utilizing a multi-platform narrative structure for its upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO project, set for 2027. By integrating the anime production with the game GUNDAM ROGUE ORBIT, the project leverages a cross-media strategy.

Finally, the successful open beta for MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls, an upcoming fighting game from Arc System Works, a Japanese studio, recorded a peak of 33,233 concurrent players on Steam. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment in collaboration with Marvel Games, the title uses a 4v4 tag-based system with dual control schemes for core and casual players.

Looking Ahead

The industry’s pivot toward digital-centric and data-driven models will face several tests in the coming months. Monitoring Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Q3 financial reports will be critical to see if the physical sales ratio continues to fall below the 15% mark observed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Track how the first Kadokawa-published Marvel manga volumes perform. Additionally, tracking the conversion rate of Xbox’s ad-supported streaming users to paid subscriptions will reveal whether this model can successfully lower entry barriers without cannibalizing existing Game Pass revenue. Finally, the reception of Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert upon release will evaluate whether the “World First” development model’s trade-offs in narrative consistency impact long-term player engagement.