The Role of Management Accounting in Japanese Online Game Operation

• Published in: The Journal of Management Accounting, Japan Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 107 - 124
• Main Author: Seki, Yohei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Association of Management Accounting 28.03.2024; 日本管理会計学会
• Subjects: F2P; game industry; management accounting; online game; revenue management; target costing; オンラインゲーム; ゲーム業界; レベニューマネジメント; 原価企画; 管理会計
• ISSN: 0918-7863; 2434-0529
• DOI: 10.24747/jma.32.1_107

Recent management accounting research has focused on the content industry. This paper focuses on online games in the content industry and discusses the role of management accounting in Japanese online game operation. Online games often have a distinctive business model called F2P, in which revenue is earned through item charges with no basic fee. Specific KPIs such as DAU, billing rate, ARPU, ARPPU, etc., are used for online game operations. The roles required of management accounting in the operation of online games include ``balancing development and operating costs with improving the attractiveness of the game’’ and ``leading to higher paying users through appropriate pricing’’. Regarding the roles of each, in terms of specific management accounting methods, target costing could be utilized for the former and revenue management for the latter.