GREE Shares Down 6.15%, After Users Discover Glitch In Their Top Social Game

Shares in Japan’s top social gaming company GREE (current market cap: US$6.5 billion) dipped 6.15% today, following reports of users exploiting a glitch in the platform’s top social game. The title in question is “Tanken doliland”, a social card battle game mixed with RPG elements. As we reported yesterday, a bug in the game makes… Continue reading GREE Shares Down 6.15%, After Users Discover Glitch In Their Top Social Game

Presentation: DeNA, Mobage, GREE – Demystifying Japan’s Social Gaming Market

A few weeks ago, I gave a presentation on Japan’s social gaming sector, in which I am analyzing some key areas and companies (especially DeNA and GREE) of this rapidly growing industry. In particular, the presentation is focused on the local social gaming market, the differences to markets in the US and elsewhere, and future… Continue reading Presentation: DeNA, Mobage, GREE – Demystifying Japan’s Social Gaming Market

Japan’s Mobile Social Gaming Giant GREE Partners With China’s Tencent (QQ)

Big news from Asia’s social gaming world today: Tokyo-based mobile social games juggernaut GREE ($3 billion market cap) just announced it will tie up with China’s biggest web company Tencent ($45 billion market cap), which operates the massive QQ platform. The plan is to “export” GREE’s social apps to the rapidly growing market for mobile… Continue reading Japan’s Mobile Social Gaming Giant GREE Partners With China’s Tencent (QQ)

For Social App Development: Mixi And CyberAgent Launch Joint Venture

Japan’s social apps boom isn’t ending: Today, two of the country’s biggest web companies, namely Mixi and CyberAgent, announced they will launch a joint venture to produce social apps for mixi, Japan’s biggest social network, on February 1. CyberAgent is best known for its massive Ameba blog platform, Japan’s biggest (12.4 million registered users). The… Continue reading For Social App Development: Mixi And CyberAgent Launch Joint Venture

15 New Games: GREE Beefs Up Smartphone Offering

Another day, another GREE-related news item on Asiajin. Today, it’s about GREE’s web site for smartphones for which new games by third-party developers have been added. If you access GREE through an iPhone or Android handset, you’re now able to play a total of 15 games from twelve different companies (full list in Japanese here).… Continue reading 15 New Games: GREE Beefs Up Smartphone Offering

Video: DeNA CEO Tomoko Namba’s Interview at LeWeb’10

Tomoko Namba, the CEO of Japanese mobile social gaming giant DeNA (and one of my personal heroes), gave a pretty interesting interview at web industry conference LeWeb’10 earlier this month. LeWeb organizer Loic LeMeur asked her for a full 20 minutes about her company’s history, present and future plans Namba, speaking in excellent English, doesn’t… Continue reading Video: DeNA CEO Tomoko Namba’s Interview at LeWeb’10

Social Apps Provider Istpika Gets $2.5 Million From DeNA-Backed IncubateFund

I wonder in what shape the Japanese venture capital industry (and entrepreneur scene) would be without social games. Yesterday, TechCrunch Japan reported about Tokyo-based social apps provider gumi getting a “multi-million dollar” sum from GREE, which counts 21 million members in its mobile gaming network. And today, Japan- and Australia-based Istpika says it received $2.5… Continue reading Social Apps Provider Istpika Gets $2.5 Million From DeNA-Backed IncubateFund

China’s Rekoo To Distribute Social Games In Japan Through Cell Phone Address Books

Last summer, Beijing-based social games maker Rekoo launched “Sunshine Ranch” on Japan’s biggest social network, Mixi, and caused a sensation (with 5.1 million users today, it has basically become Japan’s “Farmville”). After Sunshine Ranch, Rekoo capitalized on the success by releasing a number of other simulations on Mixi and other platforms (just like Zynga did… Continue reading China’s Rekoo To Distribute Social Games In Japan Through Cell Phone Address Books

Report Of Asiajin Shanghai Meetup

This is a report of Asiajin Shanghai Meetup which was held on July 24th. The meetup was held at Sunstyle showroom in Shanghai Sculpture Space. Thank you so much to Gang Lu and George Godula for securing a venue. More than 20 people have gathered to the event on this very hot day in Shanghai. Five… Continue reading Report Of Asiajin Shanghai Meetup

NHN Japan Shakes Hands With 70 Game Developers To Enter The Social Game App Business

The Japanese subsidiary of a Korean online game service operator, NHN Japan[J] announced at the briefing event held on Monday that they would enter the arena of social game business.  The company’s game new platform enables to change the progress of games according to where/when you’re playing, how the weather around you is, and expects… Continue reading NHN Japan Shakes Hands With 70 Game Developers To Enter The Social Game App Business