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GREE and IUGO looking to boost Knights & Dragons' revenue to $5 million/month

Planning for a five-fold increase by end of 2013

GREE and IUGO looking to boost Knights & Dragons' revenue to $5 million/month
There's currently a big upsurge in mobile publishing.

And this competition means publishers are keen to highlight their ability to drive success for developers.

That's the context for GREE's news that the first game released through its Partners Fund - IUGO's Knights & Dragons - generated over $1 million last month.

The fund sees GREE investing up to $10 million in developers through minority equity deals of $1 million or more.

The IUGO deal happened back in April 2012.

Firm foundations

Of course, compared to the cash being generated by the likes of Clash of Clans and Puzzle & Dragons, $1 million per month is now considered small beer, but the two companies are committed to build on their success.

Their plan is to increase revenues to $2 million/month by September, with a long time goal of $5 million by the end of 2013.

"Our focus is on creating long-lasting, cherished franchises that enjoy strong relationships with the player community," said Jim Ying, GREE International's veep for publishing and partnerships.



Knights & Dragons - city-building, strategic combat and fantasy role-playing game

"Knights is our first collaboration with IUGO and we have big plans for the game going forward including building new multiplayer features and on-going in-game events for players."

Hand-in-hand

GREE says its ability to operate free-to-play games saw Knights & Dragons' ARPDAU increase 75 percent, while 30-day retention rose 50 percent. The result was a three-fold rise in monetisation.

"The publisher/developer relationship is really built on the ability to learn from and share expertise and resources," echoed IUGO CEO Hong-Yee Wong.

"Knights & Dragons is a great example of what that kind of partnership can bring to the market and to the players."

GREE is currently considering applications for its Partners Fund from companies in North and South America. You can find out more details at www.greepartnersfund.com
Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.