By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
It has become very, very silent about comm, the chat app DeNA started rolling out in October last year. According to the last official word from the Mobage operator, a few months ago, the app racked up a total of 5 million users. That number is sure higher now (comm has been advertised on TV in...
I’ll say it again: if there is one mobile game out there right now that people in Japan will remember in 10 years, it’s Puzzle & Dragons. The game, which boasts 13 million registered users in this country (10% of the population), has generated US$113 million in sales in April. Since...
As I have mentioned earlier, Japan is the only country in the world where mobile games are regularly being advertised on television. And this isn’t about cheap night time slots in niche TV programs no one watches: DeNA, GREE, GungHo, and many other developers are paying for spots aired during...
DeNA has quietly shut down a total of five games on the Mobage platform in Japan recently, offering players who have purchased (but not yet used) virtual currency for the titles reimbursements. The list news site Social Game Info released today includes a few big titles, especially the first two:...
There is no end to the Puzzle & Dragons hype in Japan, it seems. The country’s top smartphone game now has over 12 million users, is generating a staggering US$62-86 million – per month, and has been advertised with a new campaign on national TV since the end of March. Maker GungHo...
GREE is apparently close to releasing Lost In Stars, a 3D MMORPG that looks pretty awesome. The game has been in development at GREE Korea, which makes it difficult at the moment to obtain info in English or Japanese. One of the recently released images I copied and pasted below says “Coming...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry