GREE Invests In Vancouver Mobile Game Studio IUGO

^[1]GREE ^[2] has announced that the corporation has made a minority investment in Vancouver-based game developer IUGO Mobile Entertainment Inc ^[1]. IUGO specializes in the design, development and deployment of premium quality mobile games. The new partnership follows GREE’s recent investment in Tokyo-based HTML5 powerhouse Wizcorp.

“We are honoured and excited to partner with developers who share our passion for delivering quality mobile social entertainment,” says Shanti Bergel, SVP, Business & Corporate Development of GREE’s subsidiary, GREE International, Inc. “We look forward to working with IUGO’s talented team to grow the leading mobile social ecosystem for players and developers alike.”

Under the new partnership, IUGO and GREE will co-develop high-quality, free-to-play content leveraging IUGO’s three proprietary technologies – IUGO Games Library™, IRender™3D Engine, and IUGO Mesh™ Social Game Engine – which GREE will use to expedite development and enhance the quality of its social mobile games.

“Both GREE and IUGO are mobile-first game companies, and we share a common vision of where the game industry is heading,” says Hong-Yee Wong, CEO of IUGO Mobile Entertainment.  “Even though IUGO delivered our first game in 2003, I feel like we are just getting started because of the immense opportunities brought forward by the mobile lifestyle. Mobile gaming is soaring on a global scale, and our partnership will put us at the leading edge of this thrust.”

GREE’s investment in IUGO is the latest step in GREE’s rapid, global expansion.  The company’s engagement of the Canadian market through IUGO follows the establishment of GREE’s first North American office in 2011.

GREE is dedicated to building a global mobile social gaming ecosystem that allows players to connect with friends through high-quality game experiences while offering developers access to a high-engagement audience.  Earlier this year, GREE launched the first two games developed by its San Francisco studio – Zombie Jombie and Alien Family.   GREE plans to continue creating interesting and unique social free-to-play game experiences, while building relationships with third party developers.  GREE also plans to release its new GREE platform in Q2 2012.