GREE part-owned social gaming outfit Gumi raises $26 million for ...

GREE part-owned social gaming outfit Gumi raises $26 million for global expansion and acquisitions

With GREE expecting to generate over $1.7 billion in its FY12, it's clear that the Japanese social mobile gaming space is continuing to explode.

Indeed, because GREE makes the vast majority of its cash from third party developers releasing games on its platform, that means that lots of Japanese social mobile game developers are also making a lot of cash.

One such as Gumi, which has just announced its raised $26 million from Jafco, Shinsei Bank, and DBJ Capital.

Getting sticky

Owned 20 percent by GREE, which also invested in an earlier round, Gumi now looking to expand to Korea, Singapore, and the US, in the process bulking up from its current 140 staff using its new cash for acquisitions.

Of course - as with all Japanese overseas expansion - what will be interesting to see is whether its existing IP will translate. According to TechCrunch, it has around 10 million users of its eight games. These appear to be in typical social genres Yakuza Wars and Pirate Wars plus the EA/PlayFish co-developed FIFA World Class Soccer.

Gumi expects to sell $50 million of in-app purchases during 2011, suggesting that it's generating plenty organic cash too.

[source: TechCrunch]

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Gumi+news/news.asp?c=35840

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