RockYou Raises $10 Million For Asian Expansion

Social gaming and apps developer RockYou announced its raising of another $10 million from previous investor Tokyo-based SoftBank, as well as the acquisition of a majority stake in RockYou Asia, its joint venture with the Japanese corporation. Headquartered in Redwood City, RockYou has so far amassed $127 in financing since the studio opened in 2005. SoftBank, which injected $50 million into the company last November, says this new investment demonstrates its "commitment to social networking and to RockYou's unique role of engaging the world through social media." The developer, SoftBank, and GungHo Online Entertainment (Ragnarok Online DS) established Tokyo's RockYou Asia Inc. in February 2009 with the intent of producing social apps to match "the evolved methods of utilization of the [social network services] which are spreading rapidly throughout Asia." RockYou says it's worked with developers throughout Asia to monetize, license and publish their local games globally. It adds that with the success of its joint venture in social gaming markets like Japan, Korea, and China, it plans to further extend its operations in Asia. The firm's social games and apps currently attract more than 280 million monthly users worldwide, as well as 15 billion monthly global impressions. RockYou Asia has so far released several titles geared toward users in Asian countries such as RockYou Battle Monsters, Umajin RockYou, Usaru Biyori, Crime World, Hug Me, and Speed Racing. "We've always been very excited about the Asia market and believe that the market for social applications will really heat up in the coming months," says RockYou founder Jia Shen. "With the further alignment between RockYou and RockYou Asia we can have an increasingly significant impact on the Asia Social Gaming market and further engage the world through social media."