By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
NHN Japan, the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Korean web powerhouse NHN, gave a big press conference today, and it seems the company is betting high on LINE, its super-successful messenger app. VERY high. Here is a summary of what was unveiled today. Updated stats About 4 weeks ago, NHN said that LINE...
That doesn’t happen very often: GREE has apparently decided to pull the plug on not one but two of their 1st-party games. The first title is Bakumatsu Kingdom, a “historic” war simulation set in the Edo period. GREE released the game just in November last year and shut it down...
This isn’t directly related to social games but should be worth mentioning: video game company SEGA has announced the launch of SEGA Networks, a new subsidiary that will develop games specifically for smartphones and tablets. Sega Networks will be headed by SEGA CEO Haruki Satomi who used to...
Mobile group chat / social messenger services are currently hot in Asia. Very hot. Now Japanese company Kayac lets developers integrate these “social communication functions” into their social games with a new SDK. The so-called nakamap SDK can be found here, is free to use (and in...
Tokyo-based social game maker gumi enters the investment business. As The Nikkei just reported, the GREE partner has spun off a separate investment company to scout for interesting targets in Asia (GREE is a stakeholder in gumi). “gumi Ventures” is mainly looking for China- or Singapore...
Last month, it was announced that Tanken Doliland (Driland outside Japan), GREE‘s super-popular social card battle game, is to be turned into a TV anime series. Details were scarce at that point, but now GREE organized a big press event in Tokyo to introduce the show to a broader audience...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry