DeNA, Disney jointly developing social games for Mobage

Japanese social games giant DeNA today announced a partnership with the Walt Disney Company, that will see a number of jointly-developed games from the two companies released for DeNA's Mobage mobile gaming platform. The first release developed as part of the partnership, social game Disney Party, launched earlier this week in Japan, and a second title called Disney Fantasy Quest is due to launch in Japan next month. A third title, based on characters from Marvel Comics, will then be released in Japan this summer. Localized versions of all three games will launch outside of Japan later this year, and will be the first jointly-developed games from DeNA to ever be released outside Japan. The partnership also expands outside of social games, as the two companies plan to work together on Disney movies, TV programs and smartphone apps. DeNA's president Isao Moriyasu said that the "cross-border and cross-generational appeal" of Disney's characters and stories will help the two companies reach millions of players through the agreement. DeNA has been heavily pushing its Mobage platform worldwide over the past year, launching a version in English-speaking regions last summer.