If the progress of social gaming platforms was measured in column inches, you'd be hard pressed to find one with more momentum right now than DeNA's Mobage. 

On the back of a riposte by ngmoco CEO Neil Young to claims the platform was failing to take off on Android in the west – top games on the system now clocking up north of 500,000 installs – DeNA has now began rolling out the network on iOS in China. 

It's a move that comes almost unannounced, with DeNA's previous position being to commit to a global launch on Apple's platform at some point before the end of 2011.

Royale rewards

As detailed by Asian tech site Penn-Olson, Mobage on iOS's Chinese debut comes complete with 20 titles at launch, with a DeNA China rep revealing Ninja Royale has taken an early lead at the top of the platform's charts.

While its Chinese launch may have come out of the blue for those of us in the west, DeNA is looking to make a larger splash in the country itself, drawing on China's love for Japanese TV drama.

It's claimed DeNA will seek to use the forthcoming TV series based on another Mobage franchise – Kaito Royale – to increase awareness of the platform across China, with the overall strategy being to focus on Chinese consumers who appreciate all things Japanese.

The launch comes as DeNA posted a net income of ¥8.2 billion (around $105 million) in Q3 2011, up 7 percent year-on-year.

 

Moving forward, the company claims it plans to support Mobage's global expansion with an "aggressive marketing program", all in a bit to hit its longterm goal of generating $100 million Moba-coin transactions per quarter outside of Japan during 2012.

[source: Penn-Olson]