Interviews// GREE in the UK: Remember the Name

You might not have heard of the name GREE before, but it’s likely that in a year or two’s time, it’ll be all you see. The Japanese mobile games company was the first to ride the wave of mobile social networking, and since 2007 has transformed from a small games outfit to one of the biggest in the country. Its games are played on almost every mobile device, and you can’t move in Japan without seeing an advert for its latest titles.

While the mobile games market has exploded in recent years in the West, in Japan GREE made a name for itself before the release of the iPhone, making games for feature phones and online browsers. Now it has set up shop in the UK, and has a big global strategy. I spoke to Vice President of developer relations, Kyoko Matsushita, about the importance of the mobile market and where GREE is headed.


SPOnG: GREE’s lineup is a mixture of Japanese titles and UK-based IP such as Moshi Monsters. How important is it to present localised, Western games on top of the Eastern content you provide?

Kyoko Matsushita: We really believe in the importance of having a global portfolio of game titles. We obviously have very successful games in Japan, but we don’t bring all of them to the global market. That’s because some games don’t work in a Western context. We are very careful in assessing and understanding local markets.

We also make in-house games outside of Japan, as well as partnerships with other studios. We have a studio in San Francisco, and we acquired Funzio back in March - they also have very strong IPs, like Kingdom Age. In terms of partnerships, we are working with Mind Candy to develop Moshi Monsters games, and also with Ubisoft Gameloft.


SPOnG: Can you give me an idea as to how successful GREE is in Japan? The mobile gaming market has really exploded there - your company’s adverts frequently dominate billboards in Tokyo.

Kyoko Matsushita: Well, our success really came when we made our first game, back in 2007. It was a fishing game, and part of the reason for its popularity - besides the game itself being quite interesting - was down to a partnership with a telephone operator in Japan. We were able to release the game to a lot of mobile subscribers.

That’s when we became known - people tried the game, liked it and even paid for parts of it. That was then - we’ve now been named the #1 advertiser in Japan. We have passed the traditional brands in this space, such as Toyota, in terms of advertising spend. So, once we started advertising our awareness went up dramatically.


SPOnG: Japanese people tend to prefer playing games on handheld devices. Would you say that this preference led to GREE’s success?

Kyoko Matsushita: I think so, definitely. But we knew that the mobile gaming era was coming. Our business originally started in online games, but only for a short time back in 2004 when our CEO started the business. He knew mobile gaming was coming, so GREE was one of the first companies to adapt before anybody else at that time. Now, the mobile gaming market is here, and we already have successful content as a result.


SPOnG: In the West the mobile gaming took off with the success of the iPhone and various Android platforms. But in Japan, it was popular before then, with feature phones connected to closed networks, right?

Kyoko Matsushita: Yes, initially mobile social games became popular on feature phones in Japan. Feature phones are very mainstream in Japan, and are used to access content all the time. GREE made its business on the feature phone market. Smartphones have now, of course, taken off on a global scale but feature phones are still prominent in Japan so we continue to provide games on those too, whilst moving towards iPhone and Android.


SPOnG: It’s interesting, because games on feature phones were never really popular in the West, on the same level that smartphone games are today. Why do you think it was a different situation in Japan?

Kyoko Matsushita: I think feature phones and playing mobile games has just been embedded in the Japanese culture. I think Western users weren’t really used to playing games on a mobile phone in the past, at least not in the same way Japanese users do. In Japan, having a mobile device - something small and compact, always in your bag - is a part of the culture.


SPOnG: Do you see a global shift towards smartphones like iPhone and Android?

Kyoko Matsushita: Yes - we have been talking a lot about it, but smartphone penetration is just skyrocketing right now, and it will continue to do so over the next five years. The penetration to consumers is huge, while the spending and consumption of mobile games is also skyrocketing. The market is just going to grow bigger, and with that more competition will fight for the same space too.


SPOnG: What do you say to the traditional gamer, who may be digging their heels in and very much focused on their Xboxes and PlayStations? They take one look at Fishing Star, for example, and decides that it’s rubbish as it doesn’t appeal to them. Do you think the traditional gamer will at some point be converted to mobile games?

Kyoko Matsushita: It’s a good question. I think that console gamers will always enjoy the specific experience that you get from playing on consoles, whether they buy into the mobile market or not. It’s not like they’re converted from playing console games to only playing mobile games.

They normally have a console at home and a mobile phone when moving around. So mobile phone games, like mobile social games, are not meant to be in the same context as a console game. You play it differently. You play these games when watching movies, during commercials, standing at the bus stop and so on. A console gamer might play a mobile game whilst in this mode.

It’s not about really converting. They might play the mobile game knowing it’s not the same type of game experience. It’s much more casual, and the game cycles are generally very short. You can actually meet achievements in a matter of five minutes whereas console games can be pretty hardcore.


SPOnG: How do you see the company expanding and making a real presence in the West, as it has done in Japan?

Kyoko Matsushita: We recently announced that we have set up our UK games studio. This is a big milestone for us at GREE, to have a studio in Europe. There are about 20 people in the office at the moment, but we’re going to grow to about 100 in the next few months. Once we’ve established ourselves, we really want to make our own in-house games. But not necessarily games with a focus on the Japanese market. Whether it’s working with partners and their IPs or from scratch, the point is to make games for the local market and cultural tastes.


SPOnG: The UK in particular has seen a development slump in the last decade. Do you think the mobile gaming boom will see the UK games industry pick itself up and thrive?

Kyoko Matsushita: I think so. We’re working with several partners in the UK and they’re really picking up in numbers. I think even the ones more of an online based gaming world, they are really proactively coming in to the mobile and social gaming space. We’re happy because some of them have approached us saying they know how to make games, but they want to learn about mobile and social know hows, the mechanisms behind it, user engagement and what works in a mobile social context. We’re working with a lot of UK developers. It’s a really good time.


SPOnG: Thank you for your time.

Kyoko Matsushita: Thank you.