Look out Nintendo; you have a new rival aiming for your crown. GungHo Online Entertainment, makers of the highly successful iOS and Android title, Puzzle & Dragons, is looking to knock the old industry giant off its throne.
GungHo CEO Kazuki Morishita has admitted to having Nintendo in his sights, expressing in an interview with Bloomberg that he wants “to top Nintendo’s sales” by the time he retires.
While his challenge to Nintendo can be seen as quite audacious, the 39-year-old Morishita holds Nintendo to the highest esteem. “I want to make people think whatever GungHo does is fun, like they do at Nintendo,” Morishita said to reporters. “I respect Nintendo.”
GungHo Online Entertainment is a rising star in Japan, as the company generates revenue of $3.4 million a day thanks to the 14 million fans of Puzzle & Dragons. GungHo made a revenue of 30.9 billion Yen ($307 million) in the first three months of 2013. This figure was a third of Nintendo’s revenue, but GungHo’s sales grew ninefold in that same span of time, a massive difference to Nintendo’s one percent growth.
The old software giant might need to take GungHo seriously as the up-and-comer saw its shares surpassing Nintendo’s own, temporarily.
Nintendo may find itself a rival in GungHo, but it also finds a business partner. Puzzle & Dragons will be ported to Nintendo’s own 3DS portable, titled as Puzzle & Dragons Z. This 3DS port of Puzzle & Dragons is going to be available in Japan, in winter of this year. There was also a recently announced localization effort for the West, but no announced release date for now.
For more information on GungHo Online Entertainment, you can visit their English site.
