DeNA Considering European Studio Acquisitions

Mobile social network portal operator and game creator DeNA, which has made a number of developer acquisitions and investments in the U.S., says it's interested in buying European studios, too. Speaking at web-focused conference LeWeb in Paris recently, the Tokyo-based firm's CEO Tomoko Namba noted that Japanese companies like DeNA are looking more into international developer purchases due to slowing growth in their local market and the strong Yen. When asked if DeNA had plans to acquire studios in Europe, Namba replied "Oh sure", according to a report from trade site Develop. She went on to say she's "very proud" of DeNA's acquisition of San Francisco-based mobile game developer Ngmoco earlier this year. Though DeNA is mostly popular in Japan, where it has over 20.5 million registered users for its mobile social network Mobage-town, it's bought up U.S. social game developers like Gameview and invested in North American firms like Aurora Feint recently. While the company looks to expand in the West, back at home, Japan's Fair Trade Commission raided DeNA's offices yesterday as it investigates allegations of unfair competitive practices with the firm's developer partners and rival mobile social network portal operator Gree.