By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Japan’s top smartphone game Puzzle & Dragons is continuing to make serious money for its maker, GungHo (3765). 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...
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:...
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...
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...
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...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry