Line announces a flurry of joint ventures that target gaming, manga, and music

When Line makes an announcement, Line really makes an announcement. Following some big revelations – including new payments, taxi hailing, and on-demand food services – the company delivered another blast of big news for Line’s gaming, manga, and music offerings.

On stage at Line Conference Tokyo 2014, senior executive officer Jun Masuda explained the company’s additional plans to become the “number one entertainment platform” in Japan and beyond.

Line Games, best known for “soft and casual” titles like Disney Tsum Tsum and Pokopang, will receive a boost from two huge joint ventures. The first is with Cyberagent, to be led by Cyberagent vice president and head of mobile gaming Yusuke Hidaka. The second is with Japanese mobile gaming giant Gree and will be known as “Epic Voyage.” It will be led by Gree vice president Eiji Araki. Masuda said the new ventures will focus on churning out RPG and “authentic core” games.

Following up on its US$100 million Line Game Global Gateway fund, announced in August, Masuda also revealed that the company has invested in Tokyo-based gaming startup Translimit, creators of the popular iOS title BrainWars. The game has three million total downloads, one million of them coming within one week of the Android version’s release.

Switching gears to manga, Masuda said that the Line Manga app has been downloaded more than eight million times since it launched in early 2013.

“The next step is to go global,” he added, “By building a joint venture with publishers who want to bring manga to the world. Please keep your expectations high for Japan’s manga culture to go global.”

That new venture – dubbed Line Book – includes industry heavyweights Kodansha (the largest publisher in Japan), Shogakukan (youth manga), and Media Do (e-publishing). It will target English-speaking countries and Taiwan.

Another big joint venture was announced for Line Music – which will be joined by Sony Music (One Direction) and Avex Group (Exile). The service will be subscription based.