viviON to launch cloud gaming service targeting Japan's former PC gamers

viviON has announced the launch of ‘viviON GAMES’ on August 26, a new cloud gaming service designed to allow users to play PC games via smartphone browsers. The announcement follows a research study conducted by the company regarding ‘former PC gamers’ in Japan.

The study, which surveyed 10,000 men and women aged 20 to 50, estimated that approximately 11.7 million people in Japan fall into the category of former PC gamers. This represents about one in five individuals in that age demographic. The research suggests that the loss of these players represents a potential economic impact of approximately 100 billion yen annually.

According to the findings, roughly half of these former players stopped gaming due to changes in life stages, such as employment, marriage, or childcare. The new service aims to re-engage these users by removing hardware barriers through its ‘OOParts Engine’ technology, which allows PC games to run on dedicated servers without requiring developers to port titles to mobile platforms. The service will utilize a buy-to-play model rather than a subscription service.