By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
I spent the last 14 days in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and during that time, these major Japanese social networking/social gaming companies published financial reports (links to all PDFs in English):
CyberAgent: 3Q FY2011
Mixi: 1Q, FY2011
GREE: 4Q, FY2011
DeNA: 1Q, FY2011
Both GREE and DeNA are adding games to their platforms on a daily basis, but almost all of these titles are either feature phone exclusive or released for use on those handsets first. Consequently, GREE and Mobage on smartphones currently have just a few dozens games on offer – on feature...
Update: Reuters just added a more in-depth report on their visit to DeNA (well worth the read). It’s not really a detailed report, but according to Reuters, DeNA is ready to release the long-awaited English version of Mobage on smartphones worldwide (excluding China) this month. New CEO Isao...
It seems DeNA wants even more anime-based social games for Mobage: the company just announced a partnership with Tatsunoko Production, a major anime production company based out of Tokyo. Tatsunoko has been producing anime for decades, including Speed Racer, Robotech, Honeybee Hutch, Gatchaman...
As announced two weeks ago, DeNA started rolling out Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood on Mobage today, a social role-playing game that’s based on the hit anime of the same name. The game, which takes place in the same setting as the anime, is initially available for Mobage on Japanese feature...
DeNA today announced they opened an office in South Korea on June 13. DeNA Seoul Co., Ltd. is being led by Makoto Haruta who joined the company as early as 2000 and was the CFO – until DeNA did away with titles for their executives a few months ago (he is now listed as Director and Chairman)...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry