Japanese mobile virtual worlds raking it in

Analysis firm Plus Eight Star has released a report that offers data on how much money two Japanese mobile virtual worlds are making - and the numbers are impressive.

The report suggests that Mobile Game Town made $250 million in revenues last year from its 12.6 million registered users.

The service is a virtual world with a heavy component of Flash Lite gaming, so while it's a stretch to call it a pure mobile games firm, its revenues are still considerably ahead of the largest Western mobile games publishers.

Meanwhile, rival Gree, which apparently has a similar focus, made $60 million in revenues last year, according to the report. This is from eight million registered users.

However, Virtual Worlds News reports that Plus Eight Star isn't so impressed by the performance of other mobile virtual worlds in Japan - possibly because those like Mobile Game Town are so popular.