By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Japan’s leading social gaming companies GREE, DeNA, Mixi, NHN, CyberAgent, and Dwango (which established an industry council back in March) have released a new set (Japanese only) of self-regulatory measures. Last month, the industry tackled just the kompu gacha mechanic in a guideline, but...
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...
Last year, I identified a total of 7 “Japan-only” social game genres, one of which are social hostess club simulations (or host club simulations). This is how Wikipedia explains these establishments: Hostess clubs are a common feature in the night-time entertainment industry...
Tokyo-based (and listed) social game maker Voltage is famous in Japan for covering a very specific genre: social dating simulations. In these games, players are supposed to “date” virtual characters in various settings, usually embedded in a narrative that guides users from one...
Nikkei Business Online is reporting that Kenji Kasahara is ready to sell his 55% stake in Mixi (it’s not unusual for Japanese CEOs to hold such a large percentage of their companies, even after multiple rounds of funding and an IPO). To make it clear: this is just a rumor at this point, and...
Tokyo-based Klab played a major role in the “kompu gacha” shock story that rocked the Japanese social game industry in the last week. The company is one of Japan’s biggest 3rd-party social game makers and developed titles on Mobage, Yahoo-Mobage, Mixi, GREE, and Nico Nico Douga...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry