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Double play: Namco Bandai's GREE and DeNA partnerships pay off as social base in Japan triples to 30 million

Up from 10 million in January

Double play: Namco Bandai's GREE and DeNA partnerships pay off as social base in Japan triples to 30 million
Namco Bandai has announced a total of 30 million users now play its social games across Japan, with the firm's hand in the social scene having accelerated since the start of 2012.

The figures – released in Japanese – suggest Namco Bandai's total social userbase in the region has tripled since January, when it boasted a total of 10 million users across its titles.

Partner power

No doubt, the company will take the news as the perfect validation of its strategy to partner up with two of the biggest players – and, indeed, fiercest rivals – in the region, DeNA and GREE.

Back in the summer of 2011, Namco Bandai established a joint publishing venture with DeNA based in Tokyo called BDNA.

The two parties had previously worked together on the jointly developed Gundam Royale, which amassed 4 million players on DeNA's Mobage platform as of August.

Less than a year later, however, Namco Bandai partnered with GREE to develop five games based on the publisher's IP for release in Japan in 2012.

Millions and millions

Namco Bandai is one of the few major publishers to have a finger in both pies, with most tending to side with either DeNA or GREE in Japan or internationally.

According to information translated by Tokyo-based social gaming consultant Dr. Serkan Toto, the publisher has reported that flagship release One Piece Grand Collection boasts more than 4 million users on Mobage.


One Piece Grand Collection

Two other Gundam games – Gundam Card Collection and Gundam Master – have amassed a collective total of 4 million players, while The Idolmaster – Cinderella Girls boasts 2.5 million players.

[source: Namco Bandai (PDF, In Japanese)]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.