Japanese games are having trouble becoming hits in the West. So one publisher is actually coming to the Americas to see if it can break this trend
The Japanese-based mobile developer and publisher Gumi announced today that it has opened Gumi Canada, Inc., in Burnaby, British Columbia. While Gumi has a huge hit in Japan with the mobile role-playing game Brave Frontier, the new studio will focus on developing titles for the North American market. This will enable Gumi to reach more customers and take advantage of the growing mobile market, which could hit $20 billion worldwide this year.
“Canada is increasingly a location of choice for developing digital content such as games,” Gumi noted in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “With a history in game development and close proximity to Gumi America’s U.S. studio in Austin and publishing arm in San Francisco, Vancouver is an ideal location for Gumi to expand development of its industry-leading mobile game titles.”
Gumi made a big move in the U.S. market earlier this year when it opened a studio in Austin, Texas, and hired AJ Redmer, who previously worked for Nintendo and Microsoft. Gumi is clearly taking notable steps to expand its mobile market to North America.