Here’s some promising news about Android monetization. DeNA says that Rage of Bahamut, which was the #1 grossing game on both Android and iOS yesterday, is earning about the same revenue per day from both platforms. It’s a single data point, but it goes against recent studies from companies like Flurry that say that Android lags behind in terms of monetization by a factor of 4-to-1. “Contrary to… → Read More
Disney and Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA announced a new partnership this morning that will see their first jointly developed mobile social games launched on DeNA’s Mobage social gaming platform, beginning later this month.
The first title to arrive, “Disney Party,” was released on March 28th to the Mobage network in Japan, which serves a mobile gaming audience of over 35 million. On… → Read More
GREE and Mobage are brand names that don’t ring a bell with too many people (yet) as far as markets like the US or Europe are concerned, but these mobile social gaming platforms are hugely successful in Japan. The Tokyo-based companies behind these homegrown gaming networks, GREE and DeNA, reported some big financial numbers today.
DeNA (current market cap: US$6.4 billion) today announced sales… → Read More
AT&T and mobile social games company ngmoco, which is owned by Japanese gaming giant DeNA, have just announced a pretty significant agreement to bring the Mobage social gaming platform to AT&T Android customers.
According to a release, Mobage will serve as a hub for AT&T Android users to discover and play games, as well as connect and communicate with other players worldwide. → Read More
Is the world ready for the mobile social gaming revolution? Tokyo-based DeNA, the company that makes $1.3 billion a year just by offering mobile games to Japanese cell phone users and acquired ngmoco for $400 million in December, seems to think so. DeNA/ngmoco released an English (and Chinese) version of Mobage, its super-successful Japanese mobile social gaming platform on Android yesterday. → Read More
Konami, Sega, Hudson, Capcom: virtually every Japanese video game maker these days is producing social games, too. The newest company jumping on the bandwagon is Level-5 whose mega hit series Professor Layton will be turned into a (mobile) social game in Japan in the fall this year. “Professor Layton Royale” will become available on Mobage, a popular mobile social gaming platform (which boasts 25… → Read More
Exclusive – U.S.-based mobile games developer ngmoco was acquired by Japanese social games publisher DeNA in October 2010, but that doesn’t mean it stopped looking at opportunities to grow through acquisitions of its own, particularly in regions other than Asia and the United States.
TechCrunch has learned that the company has just acquired longtime game development partner Rough Cookie to boost… → Read More
Japan’s leading social games company, DeNA (listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with a $5.4 billion market cap), is running from one record to the other. The company, whose mobile social gaming platform Mobage-town boasts over 22 million users in Japan, issued its operating results reported [PDF] for the third financial quarter today. → Read More
Bad news from Japan’s multi-billion dollar social gaming industry earlier this week: Tokyo-based mobile gaming heavyweight DeNA (current market cap: US$4.5 billion) was investigated on Wednesday by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) over antitrust issues.
The allegation: DeNA, which recently paid US$400 million to acquire American smartphone game maker ngmoco, pressured Japanese mobile game… → Read More
Yesterday, Japanese mobile gaming company DeNa announced its acquisition of iPhone gaming startup ngmoco for up to $400 million. (We first reported on the acquisition talks here). The price includes $300 million up front in cash and stock, plus another $100 million earnout if ngmoco hits certain performance milestones. We also reported yesterday that ngmoco’s largest investor, Kleiner Perkins… → Read More
An update to our post last week on Japan’s DeNA mulling over an acquisition of San Francisco based social gaming startup ngmoco. The deal is supposedly done and will be announced shortly, possibly on Tuesday.
Update: and there we go. Up to $400 million in cash and stock it is.
The price we reported, $400 million or so, is in the ballpark, says a new source. And part of the reason ngmoco, with… → Read More
A week after announcing the acquisition of U.S. mobile social gaming studio, Gameview, Japanese gaming giant DeNA is making a strategic investment in another U.S. gaming company, social game studio Astro Ape. The investment amount was not disclosed by the companies.
Based in Edison, N.J., Astro Ape creates social game titles for the iOS platform, including Office Heroes, an iPhone app simulating… → Read More
In an effort to broaden its presence in the U.S. market, Japanese gaming company DeNA has acquired Mountain View, Calif.-based mobile social gaming studio, Gameview. The acquisition furthers DeNA’s goal towards being a household gaming name in the U.S. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Gameview creates free-to-play mobile social gaming applications for smartphones including, Tap Ranch, Tap… → Read More
The Japanese gaming company DeNA, which is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, reported robust first quarter earnings today.
For the fiscal first quarter, DeNA’s revenues reached $279 million, up 175% compared to the same quarter last year. Its operating profits increased by 282% to about $138 million over the first quarter of 2009 (according to the company’s own currency calculations from yen… → Read More
On the heels of Zynga’s $150 million investment from Japanese media firm Softbank Capital, Japanese gaming company DeNA has announced a $27.5 million fund to make investments in the social gaming community. DeNA holds an 83.3 percent stake in the new fund, which is called Incubate Fund No. 1 Limited Partnership. Other investors include a number of private Japan-based investors.
DeNA says the… → Read More
Japan has two listed mobile gaming companies with a multi-billion US-dollar market capitalization, GREE ($2.7 billion) and DeNA ($4.2 billion), with both companies offering services in Japan only. But DeNA just yesterday rolled out MiniNation on the App Store, a social network for the iPhone based around games and avatars that targets a global audience.
MiniNation started out with a total of four… → Read More
Japanese gaming company DeNA reported strong fourth quarter and 2009 yearly results today, thanks to the recent growth of social gaming in Japan. For the fiscal fourth quarter, DeNA reported revenues of $205 million, an increase of 81% compared to fourth quarter of 2008. Operating income increased by 136% to $105 million from the fourth quarter of 2008. For fiscal 2009, DeNA reported revenues of… → Read More
There is a lot of hype and hope in the U.S. around taking social networks mobile, but mobile social networking is still in the fledgling stages in the West. In Japan, it is already a reality. One company in particular, DeNA, has taken Japan by storm with its mobile SNS/virtual world/gaming platform Mobage-town. DeNA opened a US office in San Mateo earlier this year, with plans to offer an English… → Read More
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