Japanese online and mobile publisher KLab (TSE:3656) has raised $9.3 million, with a chunk of the cash courtesy of a partnership with local marketing specialist Hakuhodo.

The advertising outfit is investing $2.7 million (¥270 million) to help KLab promote its future games, with the remainder of the money sourced from Japanese investor Oak Capital Corp.

Tactical move

Best known for its Lord of the Dragons card-battler - which peaked at #11 on the US iPhone top grossing chart in March 2013 - KLab recently signed a longterm deal with Microsoft to develop various free-to-play games for smartphone platforms.

The first release will be based on Microsoft's real-time strategy franchise Age of Empires for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

"Today, KLab announced a licensing agreement with Microsoft Corp. to develop a mobile version of Microsoft Studio's Age of Empires franchise, which will be initially developed in English for iOS and Android and launched globally, with plans to release the game in other languages and on Windows Phone in the future," detailed Microsoft to Polygon.

"Some reports included incorrect information about additional Xbox Live-based games on iOS and Android but there are no further announcements beyond Age of Empires at this time."

[source: Serkan Toto]