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Puzzle & Dragons hit 20 million users in Japan, but growth is slowing

Now averaging 1 million new players a month

Puzzle & Dragons hit 20 million users in Japan, but growth is slowing

Puzzle & Dragons, the flagship game from GungHo Online, has just passed 20 million users in Japan, with the last 1 million users joining up in the last 30 days.

News of the milestone comes just days after GungHo teamed up with telecommunications giant SoftBank to invest $1.5 billion in Finnish studio Supercell, with the two parties taking a combined 51 percent stake in the company.

Past its peak?

While Puzzle & Dragons' expansion continues in terms of formats and territories – the game having just launched on the App Store in the UK, with a 3DS version also bound for 3DS in December – its growth in terms of Japanese users is slowing.

Puzzle & Dragons Z on 3DS

"It took the game 30 days to get from 19 to 20 million downloads on October 14," detailed Tokyo-based consultant Serkan Toto on his blog.

At its peak back at the end of January, the game was attracting new users at a rate of a million every 12 days.

"While the title should easily get to 25 million downloads and beyond in the next few months - especially since the holiday season is still to come this year - GungHo in Japan has already launched another puzzle RPG called Divine Gate as a follow-up to Puzzle & Dragons."

[source: Serkan Toto]


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