Japanese megapublisher Colopl announces $50M fund for virtual reality gaming

While traditional gaming powers in Japan are nearly all focused on mobile, one of the country’s biggest publishers is looking toward a virtual future.

Colopl, which produces dozens of hit mobile games for iOS and Android, announced today that it is starting a $50 million fund that it will use to help upstart developers working in virtual reality. The publisher made the announcement on its Japanese website, where it explains that it is searching for partnerships with VR studios. The company also said that it will use its expertise to guide studios that it invests in. Tech advisor Digi-Capital has previously predicted that the VR and augmented reality markets will potentially generate as much as $150 billion in revenue by 2020, and Colopl specifically cited that report as one of the reasons it is chasing after this exciting technology.