Softbank Establishes Movida MMO Investment Fund

BB Serve, the online games operation division of Japanese technology giant Softbank Group, has established an investment fund to promote the development of online games. The fund, called Movida Investment, is a wholly owned subsidiary worth 10 billion yen ($84 million USD), according to a report in the Korean KIPA game newsletter. The fund is specifically to support online games directed toward the international market, with a special focus on Asia, where such titles are wildly popular. Movida will provide capital to fund games with licenses that may not have been developed as online titles due to a lack of funding, to better exploit the preexisting markets. Movida's fund will be used in all aspects of online games, from development to publishing and distribution to post-launch operation and maintenance. BB Serve, which owns popular Japanese consumer game website 4Gamer.net, and Softbank will also look to the cyber café and online game sites as distribution points for games developed through the fund. Softbank and its subsidiaries have previously acquired Gravity Corp, the creator of notable Asian MMO Ragnarok Online, and, also related, Softbank-owned publisher GungHo has recently purchased Grandia creator Game Arts, showing an increasing interest in MMO investment in Japan and Asian in general.