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Shueisha, DeNA Establish Joint Venture for Digital Entertainment Services
posted on by Karen Ressler
Publisher Shueisha and mobile commerce company DeNA plan to establish a joint venture, tentatively named Shueisha DeNA Projects, on February 21.
The new company seeks to leverage Shuisha's IP creation and licensing with DeNA's internet services to jointly develop IP games and digital entertainment services for Japan and overseas. The press release notes that Shueisha and DeNA have previously collaborated in various fields, including games, avatars, and e-book sales.
The joint venture will be located in Shibuya, Tokyo. DeNA's Keigo Watanabe will serve as representative director and president, while Shueisha's Masahiko Ibaraki and one other will be directors. DeNA is investing 51% while Shueisha is investing the remaining 49%.
Shueisha is a large publisher of manga and manga magazines, notably Weekly Shonen Jump. The publisher established the global online manga site and app MANGA Plus on Monday.
DeNA Co., Ltd. is the creator of the Manga Box app, which gives users free access to a selection of manga on their tablets and smartphones. The company partnered with Nintendo in 2015 to launch Nintendo's first smartphone games.
Sources: Press Release, Anime! Anime! Biz