DeNA partners with Vietnamese dev VNG Corp
At least three Mobage exclusive social games due in 2012
The Japanese online company DeNA will partner with Vietnam's largest internet company on a series of social games for its Mobage platform.
VNG Corporation will develop at least three social games for release in 2012. Along with its acquisition of Punch Entertainment in September, the deal offers further evidence of DeNA's commitment to expansion in Southeast Asia.
"Vietnam has a surprisingly strong internet startup and game developer community," said DeNA Asia's managing director Tetsuya Mori in a statement. "DeNA believes Vietnam will produce world-class developers and VNG is undoubtedly the strongest candidate."
"DeNA is committed to supporting developers in Vietnam with and beyond Punch Entertainment and VNG."
VNG is the leading game publisher in Vietnam, commanding 60 per cent of the entire market. It also operates the popular web portal Zing, which attracts 15 million unique visitors each month. At present, it has around 250 employees.
"Our partnership with DeNA marks an important milestone for VNG as well as the whole developer community in Vietnam," said VNG founder and CEO Le Hong Minh.
"Achieving success in the Japanese market is a dream for every game developer in Vietnam. Through close collaborations with DeNA, VNG is committed to produce world-class social games."
In its second quarter financial results, DeNA attributed growth in revenues and net profits to the global expansion of Mobage. The company has also inked deals with Square Enix and Grasshopper Manufacture to produce exclusive content for the platform.