GREE and KDDI Join Forces to Sue DeNA, Asking for 1 Billon Yen

The continuing competition between GREE (TYO:3632) and DeNA (TYO:2432) is getting even more interesting, as we just received a note that GREE, together with KDDI, has sued DeNA for pressuring game developers to keep them from building games on GREE’s platform. You may recall that a cease and desist order was issued to DeNA back in June about this issue by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

KDDI (TYO:9433), who operates “au one GREE” has made the decision to become a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit to support GREE’s fair competition complaint.

GREE said that despite DeNA’s claims to the contrary in December of last year, its competitor still continued to “disturb” mobile game developers who provided games for GREE. GREE says that this has obstructed its business. The announcement stated:

These illegal acts have not only hampered our business but have had a negative impact on other elements of the internet industry such as social game developers and telephone carriers. Considering that this is still impacting many companies, we feel that this is a major barrier to ensuring a fair, competitive business environment.

In the note, it was also revealed that together, GREE and KDDI are claiming 1 billion yen in damages. GREE wants 900 million yen, KDDI 105 million yen.

While DeNA’s actions were said to have affected GREE’s business, and the latter expects that the lawsuit will have minimal impact on its business performance, which — to be honest — seems like a contradicting statement.

Anyway, as this fight between Japan’s mobile social gaming giants goes on, it’s still business as usual for the little guys, i.e. the mobile game developers. Your virtual flowers and swords will still sell like hot cakes on GREE and Mobage. In the meantime, we’ve reached out to DeNA reps to see if they have any comment or official statement, though we’d be surprised if there is any official word on this before tomorrow, if at all.

Update: DeNA has issued an official statement in Japanese, from which they also offer this ‘unofficial’ English translation:

It has been reported that GREE, Inc. and KDDI Corporation have filed a lawsuit against DeNA Co., Ltd. regarding claims that DeNA violated Japan’s antitrust law. No contact had been made by the two companies to DeNA regarding the reported matter until today.

Since DeNA has not received the official statement of complaint, it is unable to confirm its content at this moment. The two companies issued a press release that reads as if DeNA has been violating the antitrust law, but there is no such fact.