By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Thank god it’s Friday (and the end of the trading week) for Mobage operator DeNA and GREE: both stocks got hammered again at the Tokyo Stock Exchange today, closing a terrible five trading days overall. Investors apparently sold the stocks as a response to margin calls – this is...
Zynga Japan released their second game with original IP yesterday: just like role-playing game Montopia (released in February on iOS and in March on Android), the title is: mobile-only and free to play offered exclusively on smartphones (Android first this time, an iOS version might be launched...
The social game industry in Japan is rather a “social card battle game industry” at the moment: the number of titles belonging to this genre over here is ridiculously high, and there is no end in sight. In case you need background: my description of Japanese social card battle games can...
It was about time: super-popular action manga Naruto will be turned into a mobile social game, and it’s GREE that has scored the licensing rights.Tentatively named “NARUTO×GREE”, the social card battle RPG will hit GREE for feature phones next month, followed by a smartphone...
As I mentioned previously, the “kompu gacha” (complete gacha) shock isn’t over, even after the Japanese government officially clamped down on the controversial game mechanic. Over the weekend, GREE, DeNA, Mixi, NHN, CyberAgent, and Dwango (the same companies that formed a...
Was this the plan? GREE finally announced the launch of their global platform today, but the company is mainly addressing developers. As I mentioned earlier, following a developer-centric strategy is the best that GREE can do – but rolling out a new app and two new games to, you know, appeal...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry