Line teams up with Cyberagent and Gree for RPG and “authentic” core games

Line announced two huge joint ventures at the Line Conference Tokyo 2014 today. Its first venture with Cyberagent will be led by Cyberagent vice president and head of mobile gaming, Yusuke Hidaka. The second is with the Japanese mobile gaming giant, Gree, and will be known as Epic Voyage, Inc. This will be led by Gree’s vice president, Eiji Araki. Epic Voyage will have a starting capital of JPY 10 million ($92,707).

Line senior executive officer Jun Masuda said both new ventures will focus on churning out RPG and “authentic” core games. He also revealed that Line has invested in Translimit, creator of the iOS title BrainWars. The game currently has three million downloads in total, with a million of these coming within a week of the game’s Android release.

These ventures are part of Line’s plans to become the “number one entertainment platform” in Japan and beyond, and certainly seem like the right way to do so. Line is currently best known for casual and social games like Disney Tsum Tsum and Line Let’s Get Rich among many others. RPGs and core games will help extend its reach to an entirely new audience.

What I’m hoping it won’t bring into these genres are its cute but ultimately super-casual lineup of Line characters. These are huge moneymakers—just look at all the Line merchandise sold around you—but it’s hard to take an RPG seriously if it’s got Moon or Brown in a helmet.

(via Tech in Asia, Gree)