More recently, we wrote that Puzzle & Dragons owes much of its success in Japan to television advertising. In fairness, we note that many mobile developers resort to this method of promotion in the Land of the Rising Sun.
But GREE went further. Her new battler Zettai Bouei Leviathan will appear on the Japanese mobile games market simultaneously with the first episode of the anime of the same name – on April 6. Moreover, the game and the series will have the same plot, graphics for both projects were drawn by GONZO studio, voice acting was also done in parallel.
As Serkan Toto notes in his blog, the release of a game “based on” an anime is not news, but here we are dealing with a completely different phenomenon, an “innovative marketing experiment.” Both projects – both the game and the series – are in close conjunction. They work for each other.
For the GREE project, anime is a chic advertisement that will be released weekly for two seasons (now it is planned to produce 25 episodes of 25 minutes each). For GONZO’s creation, the game is an opportunity to reach and retain a new audience.
So we wouldn’t be surprised if the next most profitable game in the world turns out to be Zettai Bouei Leviathan. But here, of course, a lot will depend on the quality of both projects.