Yahoo! seeking US developers for new Japanese portal
Mobage launches October, claims 72 million prospective users
Yahoo! Japan and developer DeNA's joint venture development portal Yahoo! Mobage is set to open to the public on 1 October, and hopes to reach 72 million Japanese internet users with its PC and mobile game service.
The company is seeking to attract American developers with the promise of reaching DeNA's 20 million monthly mobile users and Yahoo! Japan's 52 million internet users.
Developers have been able to access DeNA's mobile platform, Mobage, since January this year. DeNA claim this has led to participants seeing a reported ten-fold sales increase in six months, with an average earning of $1 million (£652,230) per month for a top game.
Recently it has been estimated that the average revenue per user (ARPU) of virtual goods is $4 (£2.60) in Japan - which if true is four times that of the estimated American market.
"The amount of money to be made in Japanese social gaming is astronomical," said DeNA 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."
More information is available on DeNA's developer sign-up page. Games appearing on the service are required to be playable on both mobile and PC.