By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Earthquake in Japan’s social gaming industry today: a council of six major Japanese companies in this space today announced they will abolish the controversial “kompu gacha” (complete gacha) function from all of their titles by the end of May. No new games offering the mechanic...
Mobage operator DeNA today published its financial report for the last quarter of FY2011 and the fiscal as a whole. And the company again boasts record numbers. DeNA’s quarterly net sales reached US$529 million (+32% year-on-year), while operating profit increased to $234 million (+19%). For...
GREE and Mobage operator DeNA saw their share prices dropping like a rock on Monday and stabilizing yesterday. But after GREE announced their earnings yesterday, the downward trend is continuing. I have a feeling that the market was just waiting for an external shock factor like the possible...
After taking a “historic” beating yesterday because of a possible regulation regarding the “konpu gacha” game mechanic, things are looking relatively stable today for GREE and Mobage operator DeNA. At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, shares of both companies plunged early in the...
Japan’s National Consumer Affairs Agency hasn’t even officially confirmed plans to regulate the lucrative gacha mechanism in social games, but listed companies in this industry in particular are already suffering. The list of the biggest losers at the Tokyo Stock Exchange today reads like a...
Two days after the Daily Yomiuri, Japan’s biggest newspaper, reported that Japan’s National Consumer Affairs Agency is planning to regulate a certain lucrative mechanism in social games, shares of makers are dropping like a rock. A few people in the industry (myself included) speculated...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry