Making money in mobile games can be a challenging prospect. Competition is fierce, with hundreds of new titles hitting the market every week. DeNA, a leading Japanese social gaming platform, has a bold suggestion for western developers: come to Japan.
Making money in mobile games can be a challenging prospect. Competition is fierce, with hundreds of new titles hitting the market every week. DeNA, a leading Japanese social gaming platform, has a bold suggestion for western developers: come to Japan.
DeNA and their partner Yahoo! Japan have just put out a call to American developers to bring their games to their Yahoo! Mobage platform, which is set for a public launch this October. Combining DeNA’s 20 million users with Yahoo! Japan’s 52 million monthly active users, Mobage can provide a sizable marketplace for western developers who have previously stuck to their home base.
In addition to the large pool of potential customers, DeNA feels there are other reasons for developers to look to the east. Virtual good sales, according to a report cited by DeNA, are 4 times higher in Japan than America. DeNA also claims that developers on their current Mobage platform are seeing their top games averaging $1 million a month.
“The amount of money to be made in Japanese social gaming is astronomical,” says DeNA’s CEO, Tomoko Namba. “By offering this platform and providing tools to help ease the transition, DeNA hopes to be American game developers’ portal to the East.”
Developers interested in working with DeNA can learn more at http://developer.dena.jp/mbga/en/
