Monster Strike continues to print money for maker Mixi (2121). According to the latest financial report released by the company, the mega hit game pulled in a whopping US$378 million in sales between April 1st and June 30th. In other words, Monster Strike made Mixi US$4.2 million per day in that...
Three Podcasts (With Me) About Social Gaming In Japan, Nintendo On Mobile, And LINE
A total of three times in the past I was given the opportunity by Singapore-based mover and shaker Bernard Leong to speak with him about various tech-related topics in his podcast series “Analyse Asia”. As the name suggests, the focus of the interviews is on the Asian region, and I...
I Will Speak At Casual Connect In San Francisco Next Week
The Casual Games Association was kind enough to give me the opportunity to speak at Casual Connect 2015 next week. Casual Connect will take place from August 11-13 in San Francisco this year, with several thousand attendees expected. My lecture with the topic “Cracking Japan: How Foreign...
GREE International (In SF) Apparently Lays Off 2/3 Of Workforce (Update: It’s Rather 1/3)
Update: Venturebeat has learned directly from GREE International COO Andrew Sheppard that around 30% (not 2/3) of the employees in the SF office were laid off. GREE International, the wholly owned US subsidiary operated by Japanese mobile gaming powerhouse GREE (3632), has apparently laid of 2/3 of...
Video And Slides From My Presentation At Casual Connect Asia 2015
I was given the opportunity to speak at Casual Connect Asia 2015 in Singapore back in May, covering (no surprise) the Japanese mobile gaming market during my 20-minute lecture. The title of the lecture is “Demystifying Japan: What Pitfalls And Chances Does The World’s Biggest Mobile...
Orbit Saga: Gamebank’s First Smartphone App Goes Live
GameBank released Orbit Saga in Japan today, a 3D action RPG for smart devices. It’s the first app released by the developer set up in January this year by Yahoo Japan (4689), the country’s biggest online company (see my previous Gamebank posts). Orbit Saga is trying to blend typical mobile...