DeNA bringing Infinity Blade X to Japan's Mobage platform
DeNA's been on the iOS hunt for about a year now -- I saw them at GDC Online last fall asking developers to create games for their Mobage mobile platform in Japan, and then they outright purchased popular iOS developer ngmoco not long after that. Now they've put together plans to bring another big iOS game to the Mobage platform -- along with Epic Games and developers Chair Entertainment, DeNA will be bringing a version of the popular iOS game, called Infinity Blade X to Japan.
The game will be very much like the Infinity Blade we know, using swipe controls to fight RPG-style through an old castle, of course. But it will also be free-to-play, and instead be monetized with virtual goods, as well as offer social connections through the Mobage network. The game will run in Unreal Engine 3 as well, and will be available across the Mobage-town platform, which runs on a number of different cell phones and services in Japan.
DeNA has a huge network and lots of resources in Japan, and as I said, they've been looking for Western games to bring over and adapt for their huge audience. This won't be the last big title we see translated for the Mobage platform, I'm sure.
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DeNa to Bring Infinity Blade X to Mobage in Japan
Epic Games' Popular Sword-fighting Adventure Game to Go Social
DeNA Continues to Enrich the Mobage Catalog with a Diverse Range of Games
TOKYO, JAPAN – June 22, 2011 – DeNA Co., Ltd. has announced today that the company is expanding the Mobage social gaming platform's catalog of hit titles, with the social game version of Infinity Blade, offered in collaboration with Epic Games, Inc. and its award-winning studio, ChAIR Entertainment. The adaptation of the popular sword-fighting adventure RPG will launch exclusively on Mobage for iOS in Japan as a social game in the fall of 2011. This Infinity Blade title is the newest in DeNA's diverse lineup of apps for Mobage, spanning from casual to core games.
Provisionally entitled Infinity Blade X for Mobage, the social title is the first Mobage game developed with Epic's Unreal Engine 3, allowing high-end sophisticated graphics. The gameplay maintains the design and control features of the original version, while adding the ability for players to fight or collaborate with each other via the Mobage network. Infinity Blade X for Mobage will be free-to-play, with virtual goods on offer as well.
The original Infinity Blade is an international hit as an iOS mobile game, with revenue earned by its developers exceeding 10 million US dollars in just six months after launch. In the original game, players take on the role of a heroic knight, with the mission of defeating the God-King and freeing the kingdom's citizens from a reign of darkness. Fans of the RPG battle, loot, and upgrade their skills in a fantasy world with unprecedented graphic quality and a touchscreen-optimized user interface.
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About DeNA
DeNA Co., Ltd. is a world-leading Web service company that operates the Mobage social gaming platform, social networking services and e-commerce websites. Drawing on its extensive community base and rapidly expanding developer line-up, Mobage currently serves over 28 million users in Japan with more than 1,000 game titles for smartphones, feature phones and PCs. The company generated annual sales of more than 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year ended March 2011. To expand the Mobage platform globally, DeNA is building a presence in the US, Europe and in China. DeNA is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange (2432).
