Japanese mobile firm DeNA has announced a rebranding of its mobile social network Mobage-town, giving it an English logo and renaming it Mobage.
Andriasang reports that the new branding will take effect from March 28 and signifies DeNA’s previously stated intent to expand its enormously popular Japanese social network to the west.
Mobage-town is a phenomenon in Japan, with DeNA saying last November that its average revenue per user is 30 times that of Facebook, and 15 times that enjoyed by Zynga. DeNA has forecast revenues for the current fiscal year of some $1.25 billion.
DeNA acquired US firm Ngmoco, developer of iOS hits Rolando and GodFinger, last October, a move that signified its intention to expand its reach to western shores. “The big tide in social gaming is coming, right now,” said CEO Tomoko Namba at the time. “We’d like to capture it and quickly become the world’s No. 1 mobile gaming platform.”
Ngmoco’s Plus+ social networking platform, which was integrated with Mobage-town following the acquisition, will also take on the new name and logo.