DeNA is a company familiar to those that follow Nintendo closely, courtesy of the corporate partnership between the companies and DeNA's role in handling back-end services and networks for the big N. Primarily brought in for its expertise in mobile and networks, DeNA's imprint can be found in Miitomo and - very likely - the Nintendo Account system.
It's a potentially valuable relationship for both companies, and it seems that DeNA is shifting its focus to that partnership and backing away from broader ambitions in the mobile market. Having been a major player in the mobile space in the past, the company has now confirmed that it's closing down its US-based subsidiary, DeNA Global.
In the Game Business, DeNA has focused on three key regions — Japan, China, and the West. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, DeNA optimized the organizational structure and game portfolio in the West and has been developing games for the Western market with a lean structure since; however, since the games did not meet expectations, DeNA has decided to dissolve and liquidate its West subsidiaries, including DeNA Global, Inc.
In addition to struggles making an impact in the current market as a major mobile publisher, recent remarks by analyst Dr. Serkan Toto have also suggested that the company's responsibilities and roles with titles like Super Mario Run are more significant than previously expected. Though Nintendo is still leading the core design and oversight of the iOS project, DeNA is reportedly active in the technical aspects of the game's development.
Ultimately this seems like a move designed to enable DeNA to prioritise its business; with the wide-held belief that Nintendo can achieve significant success in mobile, that's certainly understandable.
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 27
Putting all their eggs in Nintendo's basket so to speak.
if i ran dinner i would not do that not me no
Makes sense. Although the West is a good place for mobile business, Asia is where it's at now. With Japan basically living off the mobile market and places like China are earning more of a disposable income and blowing it on dumb stuff like mobile gaming, you'd have to be an idiot not to jump in on that market.
@summers So what's for dinner then?
@HappyMaskedGuy More like what's English?
This is not Pokemon news. No
@HappyMaskedGuy
@HappyMaskedGuy yeah lol @ me
I'm not a massive follower of what DeNA have been up to, but any expertise that Nintendo can garner regarding mobile and networks has to be a good thing. I'm sure it will work out for DeNA too, it's not like they are working for free.
@AlexSora89
@summers
So you would do anything for dinner but you won't do that?
So "Company who makes Nintendo mobile games is closing down," might be the more accurate title. This is what happens when you make games as worthless as Miitomo.
DeNA - aka the company that didn't make Pokémon Go, but did make Miitomo
Always said when a company shuts down and people lose their jobs.
Nice to see Zelda CDi put to good use, nice to wake up to a laugh.
@XCWarrior The title is fine as is. It's obvious that it wasnt just Miitomo that pushed them to close down their Western subsidiary, but just their general performance overall.
They still exist, but they're simply shifting focus and efforts elsewhere. And when you have Nintendo as a major partner, you probably dont have to keep too many things in the air.
It's a logical move, new console incoming which they may be integral to the success of. We also have some of the most famous IP in history making there way to mobile, which will be massive cash cows for DeNa.
DeNA released seven games in 2014, seven games in 2015... then one in 2016. Doesn't seem good for them, but perhaps it shows that they're doing quite a lot behind-the-scenes with Nintendo.
I've no idea how good any of their games are other than Miitomo. Fingers crossed Mario Run brings them in some success.
Pretty dangerous I'd say, what if the NX sells worse than the Wii U? Would it be a repeat of the GameSpy situation for Wii/DS in 2014?
Nintendo buys dena in 3… 2… 1…
I feel sorry for everyone who got laid off as a result of this decision... Hopefully they can find work again soon.
"Dinner" is clearly DeNa written on a dumb smartphone trying to be clever.
@Grumblevolcano except DeNa isn't focused on NX, sure they're helping with online infrastructure, but it's clear by this post & others that their focus is mobile, so not sure the NX not selling well would have a huge effect if mobile nintendo games do super well.
I'm not sure I understand the conclusion derived . . . if DNA is closing its western operations, then DNA is not assisting Big N with localizing and distribution in the West?!? Isn't that a bad thing?!?
I trust NL's read on this; it's just not one I would have reached on my own.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
And given the success of Pokemon Go and how many people signed up for notifications of Super Mario Run....that is not a bad thing for now.
Wow, how did the understanding of this article get so misinterpreted so quickly? DeNA is a large company with over 3,000 employees globally. They're only shutting down their one office in the West, in San Fransisco, which is "a lean structure" according to the article^^ (that means there wasn't that many people there). That team handled some localized, and some domestic, mobile game releases. Besides Final Fantasy Record Keeper, we hardly got any of their licensed games they put out in other territories. And Miitomo was primarily developed in Japan, which is much closer to Nintendo's main offices than San Fransisco is to Redmond, Washington. With DeNA focusing on mobile for Nintendo, it's more than likely that a good chunk of the company will be dedicated to Nintendo and the rest keep their other games going. It's rarely an all-or-nothing deal with companies that large. They're not an indie company by any means.
http://dena.com/intl/company/overview/
http://games.dena.com/west/
http://games.dena.com/jp/games
http://denachina.com/games.html
http://denaseoul.com/games-2
@masterLEON Yeah, I get the feeling that half the comments here were made without reading the article.
@XCWarrior Except that's not what happened...at all.
@3MonthBeef "a good grasp on what the market wants or needs... Nintendo can provide that."
Presuming Nintendo has that grasp, of course.
I'm sure one fan of the previous Dena mobile games in japan is right peeved at this.
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