The 'OpenFeint' Name Will Be Gone After GREE Launches Its Global Platform for Gaming

GREE’s Global Platform (GPP) looks to be the next big thing for the Japanese mobile gaming company. It has came a long way since first expanding out from Japan, with the most significant move undoubtedly its $100 million acquisition of U.S-based OpenFeint.

Unfortunately, for the OpenFeint faithfuls, the OpenFeint name will not be staying any longer after GREE launches its Global Platform, which is poised for sometime in Q2 this year. Yes, you heard that right: GREE (TYO:3632) will drop the OpenFeint name. We heard it a few moments ago from the company’s own Noritaka Kobayashi who revealed the news here at the CyberAgent Net Impact Conference in Jakarta.

The move will come as a suprise to many, but it does make sense, and it has been apparently months in the planning. GREE just can’t really have a global gaming platform with two fragmented services in two different parts of the world. Collectively, OpenFeint and GPP has over 130 million mobile gaming users.

But apart from what GREE is revealing to the assembled media here today, there isn’t much news about the its Global Platform though. So stay tuned for the big gaming fusion between Japan and the U.S. It should be quite an eye-opener.