Japanese social gaming industry blog “Social Game Info” posted an interesting chart today. The overview sheds a light on the financial performance of Japan’s six listed third-party social game developers on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The companies are: Voltage (focuses on social dating simulations) Cave (GREE holds a stake in this company, which is known for plenty…
The “kompu gacha” (complete gacha) shock has come to a temporary “official” close today: Japan’s National Consumer Affairs Agency declared [PDF] that the mechanic found in many social games on GREE and DeNA‘s Mobage platform is illegal. I am not a legal expert (and the written statement the agency issued today doesn’t have an English translation),…
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 Japan’s…
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. KLab got listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Index in September last year and reported yesterday it…
One question a lot of people are asking me frequently is how and why the social gaming industry in Japan has exploded over the last few years. There are a quite a few reasons for the expansion of the business, and one of them is the usage of good old TV commercials. In sharp contrast…
In the aftermath of the “kompu gacha shock” that hit Japan’s social gaming industry hard yesterday, shares of GREE and Mobage operator DeNA rebounded today at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after opening bid-only. It was the first time in four trading days for the two companies to see a plus – between Monday and Wednesday,…
Earthquake in Japan’s social gaming industry today: a council of six major Japanese companies in this space today announced they will abolish the controversial “kompu gacha” (complete gacha) function from all of their titles by the end of May. No new games offering the mechanic will be allowed to be published on the major gaming platforms…
Mobage operator DeNA today published its financial report for the last quarter of FY2011 and the fiscal as a whole. And the company again boasts record numbers. DeNA’s quarterly net sales reached US$529 million (+32% year-on-year), while operating profit increased to $234 million (+19%). For the full fiscal, sales amounted to US$1.82 billion in sales…