THE BRIDGE

tag social gaming

Namco Bandai hopes to increase global presence with new subsidiaries in Vancouver and Singapore

Rick Martin Rick Martin
SHARE:

Japanese game developer and publisher Namco Bandai (TYO:7832) has announced that it will be establishing subsidiaries in Vancouver and Singapore, with the intention of improving its presence in global markets [1]. The Vancouver office, to be called ‘Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver,’ will develop online social games for North American and European markets. It is set to begin operations in June, and will be located within the Center for Digital Media, a post graduate school supported by local universities. The British Columbia provincial government said it its announcement that it provided ‘significant assistance’ to Namco Bandai, including tax credits. Vancouver is quickly becoming an international hub in the gaming space with over 85 studios there so far. As for Singapore, the new Namco Bandai Studios Singapore will also start operations in June, and it will be located at Mediapolis at One North district. Namco Bandai says that this office will be instrumental as the company has many development partners in the region, many of which have also set up shop in Singapore. For both subsidiaries, the company plans to bring in locally hired staff, with help and support from its Tokyo headquarters. Namco Bandai’s announcement is here (PDF). I’m aware that…

namco-bandai

Japanese game developer and publisher Namco Bandai (TYO:7832) has announced that it will be establishing subsidiaries in Vancouver and Singapore, with the intention of improving its presence in global markets [1].

The Vancouver office, to be called ‘Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver,’ will develop online social games for North American and European markets. It is set to begin operations in June, and will be located within the Center for Digital Media, a post graduate school supported by local universities.

The British Columbia provincial government said it its announcement that it provided ‘significant assistance’ to Namco Bandai, including tax credits. Vancouver is quickly becoming an international hub in the gaming space with over 85 studios there so far.

As for Singapore, the new Namco Bandai Studios Singapore will also start operations in June, and it will be located at Mediapolis at One North district. Namco Bandai says that this office will be instrumental as the company has many development partners in the region, many of which have also set up shop in Singapore.

For both subsidiaries, the company plans to bring in locally hired staff, with help and support from its Tokyo headquarters.

  1. Namco Bandai’s announcement is here (PDF). I’m aware that the company writes its name in all caps, but in the interests of readability and common sense, I’ll refrain from doing that in this article.  ↩

Related news

  1. share_tab_japanese Kamcord localizes SDK to Japanese, Namco Bandai first to use its game recording technology
  2. gree With new investment fund, GREE hopes to secure top developers
  3. More iPhone underwear coming soon from Bandai due to popular demand

GREE and Yahoo Japan set up joint venture for mobile social game development

Rick Martin Rick Martin
SHARE:

See our Japanese report on this story Japanese social gaming giant GREE (TYO:3632) and Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) are announcing [1] today that they will establish a joint venture for development of social games for smartphones. The initiative is tentatively called GxYz [2] With 200 million yen (about $2.16 million) in capital dedicated to the venture, this solidifies a partnership that was first announced back in November of 2012. Yahoo Japan is the most popular web portal in Japan, and GREE is looking to tap into that audience, funneling traffic from the smartphone version of the site to social games on GREE. The gaming company also hopes that those users can use Yahoo Wallet to pay for content on GREE. GREE and Yahoo Japan announced back in December that they would be co-sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid. For more details, see GREE’s announcement in English and in Japanese.  ↩ We’re really glad that this is tentative.  ↩

yahoo-gree

See our Japanese report on this story

Japanese social gaming giant GREE (TYO:3632) and Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) are announcing [1] today that they will establish a joint venture for development of social games for smartphones. The initiative is tentatively called GxYz [2]

With 200 million yen (about $2.16 million) in capital dedicated to the venture, this solidifies a partnership that was first announced back in November of 2012. Yahoo Japan is the most popular web portal in Japan, and GREE is looking to tap into that audience, funneling traffic from the smartphone version of the site to social games on GREE. The gaming company also hopes that those users can use Yahoo Wallet to pay for content on GREE.

GREE and Yahoo Japan announced back in December that they would be co-sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid.

  1. For more details, see GREE’s announcement in English and in Japanese.  ↩

  2. We’re really glad that this is tentative.  ↩

Related news

  1. yahoo-gree Gyao and Gree team up to invest in animation content development
  2. everystar-3 DeNA and Docomo joint venture empowers amateur comic and novel creators
  3. Yahoo Japan acquires e-commerce portal provider Venture Republic

Japanese social games developer Alt Plus set to IPO in March

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
SHARE:

Tokyo-based social games developer Alt Plus was approved on Wednesday to be listed on the Mothers market, a stock exchange for emerging companies. The gaming company was founded in May of 2010 by Takeshi Ishii who formerly worked at a VC firm as well a gaming companies such as Genki Co., Ltd. and AQ Interactive (acquired by Marvelous AQL in 2011). It has developed several gaming titles for the GREE platform, such as Bahamut Brave (not to be confused with Cygames’ Rage of Bahamut for Mobage), The Spirit of Fantasia, and Legend of Derbies King. In Q1 of 2012, the company saw 636 million yen (approximately $6.8 million) in revenue with a net profit of 166 million yen ($1.8 million). Some news sources say its flagship title Bahamut Brave was a very significant contributor to its sales. That title has acquired more than 1 million registered users as of last November. With this IPO, the company will raise approximately 1.1 billion yen ($11.7 million) and start introducing new gaming titles on the iOS App Store and on Google Play.

altplus_logo

Tokyo-based social games developer Alt Plus was approved on Wednesday to be listed on the Mothers market, a stock exchange for emerging companies.

The gaming company was founded in May of 2010 by Takeshi Ishii who formerly worked at a VC firm as well a gaming companies such as Genki Co., Ltd. and AQ Interactive (acquired by Marvelous AQL in 2011). It has developed several gaming titles for the GREE platform, such as Bahamut Brave (not to be confused with Cygames’ Rage of Bahamut for Mobage), The Spirit of Fantasia, and Legend of Derbies King.

In Q1 of 2012, the company saw 636 million yen (approximately $6.8 million) in revenue with a net profit of 166 million yen ($1.8 million). Some news sources say its flagship title Bahamut Brave was a very significant contributor to its sales. That title has acquired more than 1 million registered users as of last November.

With this IPO, the company will raise approximately 1.1 billion yen ($11.7 million) and start introducing new gaming titles on the iOS App Store and on Google Play.

bahamutblave

Related news

  1. Japanese mobile game developer Gumi to partner with Fuji TV
  2. Japan’s Meetrip acquired by social game developer Donuts, relocates to Bangkok
  3. lord-of-war-wide Japanese game developer Aiming raises $3.2M, eyes overseas expansion

Recent Articles

Trends