DeNA, Grasshopper Reveal Joint Social Mobile Games Venture

Japanese mobile social gaming company DeNA has revealed a joint venture with No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture, that will see the companies create social mobile games together exclusively for the Mobage platform. Grasshopper had already confirmed previously that it plans to release games for the Japanese social game giant's Mobage network. However, this new deal will see the two companies joining together under the name Grasshopper Social Network Service, with the aim to create social games that will only be available via Mobage. The new company will be officially established sometime in November, and will bring social smartphone games to Japan and other markets. All of Grasshopper Mobile's existing mobile game projects and resources are due to be shifted over to this new company once it is set-up. Goichi Suda aka Suda51, CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture, said of the partnership, "Our new venture with DeNA will allow us to explore creative ways to bring Grasshopper Manufacture’s universe to a new world of players. Mobage's world-class entertainment network and the power of social mobile games will unlock new types of experiences for our fans." Kenji Kobayashi, director and executive producer at DeNA, added, "We are very excited to expand our Mobage catalog with great games from new genres. We are especially eager to deliver the creative magic of Suda51 to Mobage users worldwide." DeNA revealed last week that it is teaming up with Square Enix to create the first social game based on the popular Final Fantasy series.