A 15.3 metre-tall ‘Tetsujin 28-go’, or ‘Iron Man 28’ is displayed at Wakamatsu park in Kobe on July 10, 2011. The statue was built to commemorate its manga creator, Mitsuteru Yokoyama who born in Kobe. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA (Photo credit should read TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)
Japanese gaming giant GREE has announced the creation of a joint venture with Yahoo Japan’s GyaO video portal that will invest in the production of new anime-related content and social games.
The endeavor, called Future Content Partners, comes as part of a larger partnership between GREE and Yahoo Japan. Last November, the companies announced a strategic alliance on content, gaming and mobile initiatives. Earlier this month, the pair announced GxYz, a joint venture for mobile social gaming.
Including both content and character-related income, Japan’s anime market is believed to bring in over 1 trillion yen ($10.6 billion) in annual revenues.
GyaO says it will cooperate with the new venture, GREE and parent company Yahoo Japan on opening a “dedicated anime information portal site” for games, video content and digital books.
The venture will receive $1.06 million (100 million yen) in funding with an equal 50-50 ownership share between GREE and GyaO. The companies plan to formally establish the fund at the end of May.
Image credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / Getty Images
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