While Dungeons & Dragons dominates the tabletop RPG market in the USA, DnD cannot compete with Call of Cthulhu in Japan, where the horror game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft is more popular. Call of Cthulhu’s English-language publisher Chaosium and its partner for localization in Japan, Arclight, both confirmed that CoC is Japan’s leading TTRPG, and has remained the “most played” system since 2011. Michael O’Brien, Vice President of Chaosium, told Screen Rant, “While in the United States and UK, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is something of a generic term for tabletop roleplaying games in general, in Japan it’s ‘Call of Cthulhu.’ That attests to Call of Cthulhu’s popularity in Japan.”
Many fans aiming to run perfect spooky tabletop RPG games are already familiar with Call of Cthulhu, as Chaosium’s storied horror game has a more than 40-year publication history and is now on its seventh edition. While CoC has maintained steady popularity over those decades it has never surpassed DnD in the USA. The player base differs from English territories, since roughly two-thirds of the CoC player base in Japan are women between the ages of 17 and 35, according to O’Brien. Arclight’s spokesperson, Asai, noted other ways the Japanese “Table Talk RPG” market (the regional term for tabletop RPGs) differs from the West.
“The Japanese market is not as large,” Asai said. “[Arclight is] slowly introducing digital platforms to the market, but physical books are still dominant.” Asai noted that the pandemic has led to an increase in digital sales, as well as the more significant impacts of technology on Call of Cthulhu in Japan. Where Critical Role teaches DMs how to handle death meaningfully and has certainly aided the success of DnD in English-language regions, similar actual play videos have helped popularize Call of Cthulhu’s unique approach to horror in Japan. “The largest impact was created by a video sharing service called Nico Nico Douga,”…
2023-02-17 22:00:03
Article from screenrant.com
Japan is fast becoming an important geography for the strategy tabletop gaming industry. Recently, it appears that the popular fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has been increasingly overshadowed by another heavy-hitting game: Call of Cthulhu (CoC). In the past few years, CoC has surged in popularity in Japan, and with it, a big shift in the strategy tabletop gaming market.
The popularity of CoC in Japan has been attributed to its ability to embrace local culture. For example, certain CoC materials incorporate Japanese mythology and cultural references into the setting and storylines. CoCs unique aesthetic also makes it an attractive gaming choice for Japan gamers. The strategy games often have a darker, gothic feel to them that many Japan gamers find appealing and immersive.
CoC has also become highly popular in Japan due to its ease of play. Unlike D&D, CoC does not require a large number of participants. A game session can be completed with as few as one or two players and a game master. This low-barrier entry format makes it ideal for gaming with a limited group of individuals. CoC also has a lower learning curve, making it more accessible to newcomers of the strategy gaming world.
Recent market trends suggest that CoC is quickly surpassing D&D in popularity in Japan. Gaming shops often report that CoC products and sessions outnumber those of D&D 2:1. This is a significant shift in the strategy tabletop gaming market and a sign of the growing influence of CoCs accessibility and its adaptive embrace of Japanese culture.
In conclusion, Call of Cthulhu has become the strategic tabletop game of choice for Japan gamers due to its immersive aesthetic and easy-to-learn format. CoC has quickly become the game of choice for many Japan gamers, and it does not appear that this trend will be waning anytime soon.