This is big: Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank (the one that acquired Sprint in the US) will launch a tender offer to increase its stake in GungHo Online Entertainment between April 1 and 26 this year (GungHo will conduct a 10-for-1 share split on April 1). GungHo has produced Puzzle &...
Puzzle & Dragons Maker GungHo Now Worth US$4.6 Billion, More Than DeNA (US$4 Billion)
I always thought I have seen a lot of craziness in Japan’s mobile game industry over the last 5 years, but the Puzzle & Dragons boom in Japan is starting to scare me. Today, at the Osaka Stock Exchange, the market cap of maker GungHo rose 19.7% to hit a staggering US$4.6 billion...
The Major Trend In Japan’s Mobile Game Industry Now? Consolidation.
Shortly after DeNA (2432) and GREE (3632) pioneered the concept of mobile gaming as the world knows it today (free-to-play business model, bite-sized content embedded in social networks to increase stickiness, data analysis to improve monetization, etc.) in 2006/2007 on feature phones, a flood of...
Monster Strike Now Pulls In US$4.2 Million Per Day In Japan
Monster Strike continues to print money for maker Mixi (2121). According to the latest financial report released by the company, the mega hit game pulled in a whopping US$378 million in sales between April 1st and June 30th. In other words, Monster Strike made Mixi US$4.2 million per day in that...
Release Calendar For Listed Japanese Mobile Game Companies (As Of May 17)
Here is an updated calendar of major free-to-play native apps that publicly traded Japanese mobile game makers have announced for the coming months. Please note that these titles can be modified, canceled, or released at any given time. The list isn’t necessarily exhaustive, as games can...
Release Calendar For Listed Japanese Mobile Game Companies (As Of May 3)
Here is an updated calendar of major free-to-play native apps that publicly traded Japanese mobile game makers have announced for the coming months. Please note that these titles can be modified, canceled, or released at any given time. The list isn’t necessarily exhaustive, as games can...