Amazon will hold a three-day event here starting today to forge closer ties with Japanese developers of games for smartphones. Some 90 executives from Amazon bases around the world, including the U.S., Europe and China, will mingle with Japanese developers and gain exposure to such unique cultural experiences as the tea ceremony.
The event is part of a larger strategy of developing and selling original content for the Amazon Prime premium service, which offers unlimited music and video streaming to paying members. Amazon aims to make this a more lucrative venture by broadening the menu with original video content and smartphone games.
Japan stands on a par with the U.S. as one of the two largest mobile-game markets. Amazon hopes to tap world-renowned Japanese game production capabilities to bolster its own development and marketing of smartphone games.
The American company also seeks opportunities to collaborate with developers for tie-ins, such as online sales of game music. This business model is exemplified by a CD now sold in Japan of music from “Shironeko Project,” a smartphone game known as “Rune Story” in English.
First seen and source: Nikkei Asian Review