By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry

After 97 Days: LINE Birzzle Hits 10 Million Downloads [Social Games]

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NHN Japan has announced that LINE Birzzle, the first social game released on the LINE platform, reached 10 million downloads worldwide.

Developed by Korea-based Enfeel, the title hit iOS and Android on July 4 this year and managed to rack up 2 million users in 24 hours.

LINE Birzzle needed just 97 days in total to get to the 10 million mark.

It is available for free (iOSAndroid) bur also comes in a paid version (for US$1.99) dubbed Line Birzzle Plus (iOSAndroid).

The game is obviously a big success and testament to LINE’s power (the app has over 60 million users currently), but I still remain bearish on the possibility of LINE to become a platform for social games (or most other forms of content, for that matter).

For example, inside Japan, I am still not seeing a mass exodus of social game companies from Mobage or GREE to LINE – far from it, actually. But that’s exactly what’s needed to become a “platform”.

NHN Japan itself says that LINE will see 10 new games (first and third party) by the end of this year.

About the author

Dr. Serkan Toto

I am the CEO & Founder of Kantan Games Inc., an independent consultancy focused on Japan’s game industry.

Please feel free to connect via Email (Serkan at kantangames.com), LinkedIn or Twitter.

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By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry