Consulting And Advisory On Japan's Mobile And Social Gaming Industry
LINE Starts Offering Games Within “LINE Play” Virtual World
“Line Play”, the virtual world NHN Japan released in Japan back in November 2012 and that integrates with chat app LINE on smartphones, is now offering games.
The first title is called “Tsuri Tomo”, hit LINE Play on Friday, and is currently available in Japanese only (the LINE-powered virtual world has been made available globally in February).
Tsuri Tomo (Fishing Friend) is a social fishing simulation that allows players to catch up to 240 different kinds of fish, by controlling their personal LINE Play avatar.
LINE says there will be 15 different locations where up to 30 different LINE users can cooperate (to hunt particularly big fish together). It’s also possible to chat with other players while fishing and get virtual items that can be used in LINE Play proper.
Tsuri Tomo is available within LINE Play’s Japanese iOS or Android app (it’s not a separate download). LINE Corp. already said the game will be available outside Japan as well at some point.
Puzzle & Dragons Maker GungHo Reaches US$15 Billion Market Cap – More Than Nintendo
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 late last year, maker…
GungHo: Puzzle & Dragons Generated US$113 Million In Sales In April
Japan’s top smartphone game Puzzle & Dragons is continuing to make serious money for its maker, Osaka-based GungHo. The company just released its latest financial report, according to which sales hit 12 billion yen in April – this amount currently translates to US$119 million and 1,142.8% more than in April last year. Earlier, in January…
Examining A Unique Marketing Tool For Japanese Mobile Games: “Collaborations”
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 prime time, on national TV…
DeNA Shuts Down 5 Mobage Games In Japan, Including Ninja Royale And Infinity Blade Cross
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: Ninja Royal (a social “Ninja…
Puzzle & Dragons Hits 13 Million Downloads: 10% Of All Japanese Are Now Registered
If there is one mobile game out there now that people in Japan will remember in 10 years, it’s Puzzle & Dragons. Maker GungHo is now worth a staggering US$10 billion, thanks to a single game that sees sales of US$62-86 million (per month) and racked up 12 million users after 14 months by mid-April….
Market Cap Of Puzzle & Dragons Maker GungHo Hits US$9 Billion. DeNA: US$4.3 Billion. GREE: US$3 Billion.
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 has just announced…
Nameko Saibai: How “Japan’s Angry Birds” Racked Up 30 Million Downloads (And Makes Money With No IAP)
Puzzle/RPG hybrid Puzzle & Dragons and messenger app LINE aren’t the only hypes in Japan’s smartphone world right now. The third big name that must be mentioned in this context is “Nameko Saibai”, a series of super-quirky smartphone games that center on cute mushroom characters (nameko is a special mushroom, while saibai means cultivation). Tokyo-based…