Shopping Guide
Naruto, a series highly popular not just in Japan but worldwide, will soon be delivered to fans in China in a new form. Japanese game developer Bandai Namco Games and Chinese Internet company Tencent Games are jointly working on developing a Naruto smartphone game app called Hokage Ninja Mobile. The app will be distributed in 2015 via Tencent’s game platform. These two companies also jointly developed the Naruto-themed online PC game Hokage Ninja Online, which has been doing well since distribution began earlier this year in May. Meanwhile, the companies are now setting their sights on the next project.
Tencent Games is a subsidiary of Tencent, one of China’s largest Internet companies. The company saw rapid growth with the release of its instant messaging app QQWeChat and it is currently the third largest Internet company in China. Through game development and its platform, Tencent Games, which is also putting effort into distributing games and other media, has become China’s largest online game community.
Japanese anime and manga content is highly popular in China, and in recent years advancements have been made for the legal distribution of Japanese anime online. Also increasing is the development of games targeted toward anime fans that have acquired licensing from Japan.
Though the political climate is unstable and there are restrictions on TV broadcasts of new Japanese anime, for Japanese companies, China is a captivating market that highly favors Japanese anime and manga. Many companies are aiming to create chances of advancing into this market. That is now happening through online video distribution, online games, apps, and social games.
© 2002 Masashi Kishimoto / 2007 Shippuden. All Rights Reserved.
© Bandai Namco Games Inc.
Source: animeanime
