GungHo Online sees major revenue spike through mobile games
GungHo Online Entertainment, a Japanese game publisher, recently acquired Grasshopper Manufacture, an innovating game developer that has a strong focus on mobile games. Since the acquisition, GungHo Online has been seeing significant increases in its revenues, largely due to the popularity of mobile games in the Japanese market. Japan has long been on the cutting edge when it comes to technology and gaming, so it is no surprise that Japanese consumers have been adopting mobile technology en masse. This widespread adoption has given consumers access to a vast assortment of mobile games, but consumers have shown strong interest in a particular game that is netting GungHo Online a great deal of revenue.
Financial report notes GungHo Online pulling in $65 million in monthly revenue
GungHo Online recently released its latest financial report, which suggested that one of its mobile games is bringing in a proverbial fortune on a regular basis. The report highlights Puzzle & Dragons, which was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture. Game industry analysts claim that this single mobile game is bringing in more than $65 million on a monthly basis due to popular in-game purchases and advertising. The game is only a year old, having been released in February 2012, and boasts of more than 8 million users.
Company claims growth has yet to slow
The success of the company’s mobile games have lead to a spike in profits. GungHo Online saw its sales grow by more than 168% in 2012, with operating profits climbing a staggering 690% during the same period. GungHo notes that it is still see aggressive growth in mobile games. In January 2013 alone, the company reported that sales had reached $91 million, growing by 1,022% from what they had been in 2012.
Mobile games beginning to dominate the game industry
Mobile games continue to prove that they have become a very lucrative market for the game industry. These games had once been considered a marginal sector of the game industry that would never serve as more than a gimmick for consumers. Due to strategic in-game transactions and advertising, however, mobile games have become a very influential part of the game industry as a whole, with many developers that have long been focused on consoles now making the transition to become more mobile-oriented.
