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Do you have a favorite game developer? One who makes your interest in a game spike the minute you know they're involved? Turns out a lot of Japanese gamers do too. Some might surprise you, some might not.


Japanese site Freshers (フレッシャーズ) conducted a poll last month asking 500 people if they played video games. Those who answered "yes" (138 people) were then asked if they had a preferred game developer. The 73 that said "yes" to both were then asked which game developer that was. The valid results were tallied as follows:

#1 Nintendo (30 votes)




"They have a lot of series that I like, like Mario and Zelda" – 31 year old male

"Because I like Animal Crossing, the Mario series and Pokémon." – 23 year old female

Editor's note: Sorry about the "demale." Typo has been noted and fixed.

#2 Square Enix (18 votes)



"I like the Final Fantasy series and their games have a lot of in depth playability." – 30 year old male

"I've played their game series like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts more than any other." – 31 year old female

#3 Capcom (6 votes)




"I'm really into Sengoku Basara." – 26 year old female

"Because I like Monster Hunter. I like the Felyne characters." – 24 year old female

#4 Tecmo Koei Games (5 votes)




"I like how Asian style games like Nobunaga's Ambition and Samurai Warriors are their main products." – 29 year old male

"I love the Nobunaga's Ambition series!" – 24 year old male

#5 Atlus (3 votes)




"Games like Persona 3 and Persona 4 are masterpieces." – 25 year old female

Sony, Konami, and Level 5 tied for 6th place (2 votes apiece) with Spike Chunsoft, Sega, and Bandai Namco tying for last (1 vote apiece).


Given the option for multiple possible answers, the top 3 developers remained the same with Nintendo in the lead, Square Enix in second, and Capcom coming in third. The breakdown is as follows:

#1 Nintendo (41 votes)

#2 Square Enix (31 votes)

#3 Capcom (22 votes)

#4 Sony (20 votes)

#5 Tecmo Koei (14 votes)

#6 Konami (13 votes)

#7 Sega (12 votes)

#8 Level 5 (10 votes)

#9 Atlus (9 votes)

#9 Bandai Namco (9 votes)

#11 EA (5 votes)

#12 Spike Chunsoft (3 votes)

#12 From Software (3 votes)

#12 Nippon Ichi Software (3 votes)

#12 Microsoft (3 votes)

#16 Marvelous AQL (2 votes)

#16 Arc System Works (2 votes)

#18 SNK (1 vote)

#18 Takara Tomy (1 vote)

Other developers(2 votes)


Interestingly – or perhaps, naturally – it isn't until #11 that a foreign developer (EA) appears on the list. Other developers popular in the west like Ubisoft, Bethesda, and Rockstar are a complete no-show in the voter consciousness – which isn't to say they're nonexistent, just that domestic developers seem far more prevalent in the Japanese game market.

3位カプコン 2位スクエニ 1位は......？ あなたがひいきにしているゲームメーカー、ブランドはどこ？ [フレッシャーズ報道]

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

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