DeNA Launches Mobage Platform In English-Speaking Regions

Mobile games company Ngmoco and its Japanese parent, mobile social game network and developer DeNA, today announced that the Mobage social games platform has launched in English-speaking countries around the world. The companies first expressed an intent to expand Mobage outside of the Japanese market at the end of last year. Mobage is now available to download for Android devices from the Android Marketplace in most English-speaking regions, and also in China. The Mobage platform provides developers with a method for monetizing to a large, global audience, with an existing 30 million Japanese players using the system. Neil Young, CEO for Ngmoco and executive officer at DeNA, explained, "Mobage’s release outside of Japan marks the next step in our company’s global expansion." "The opportunity in front of us is to build Mobage into the definitive destination for games and entertainment across territories and mobile operating systems. We’re tremendously excited about the potential for the platform, both as a great way for players to experience the very best games and for developers to access a global audience easily and effectively," he continued. DeNA president Isao Moriyasu added, "Our rollout of Mobage to English speaking territories and beyond will unlock the huge potential for the burgeoning market of social games for smartphone users worldwide. We aim to make Mobage the world’s top social gaming platform by continually delivering engaging titles to players across nations." Mobage has a number of big mobile developers lined up to support it, including Bolt Creative, Nimblebit, Backflip Studios and RockYou. Earlier in the month, DeNA announced that it had signed a number of other big game developers to produce titles for its mobile social network Mobage, including Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune.