Partnerships and subsidiaries
On March 21, 2008. Rakuten announced its investment in 20.02% of Drecom's shares, becoming an equity-method affiliate. The two companies additionally made an agreement to form an internet advertising business alliance, leading to the user targeting technology of Rakuten ad4U.[15][16]
On September 12, 2014, Drecom and Rakuten formed a joint venture, Social Learning Junbi Kaisha, in which Drecom owned 50.01%, with Drecom's Manabu Ishii as company president. Drecom's social learning business, which developed apps including Eipontan!, were to be split off and taken over by Social Learning Junbi Kaisha on November 5 of that year.[17] According to a Drecom financial report, Social Learning Junbi Kaisha was renamed to ReDucate on November 5, 2014.[18]
On May 12, 2016, it was announced that ReDucate would undergo a third-party allotment, changing the company from a subsidiary of Drecom to an equity-method affiliate. The business model was to shift from B2C to B2B, based on Rakuten's strength in that area.[19]
On September 19, 2018, Drecom announced the dissolution of its capital and business alliance with Rakuten, as Rakuten had sold all of its shares in the company to Bandai Namco Holdings for 3 billion yen.[20]
On March 1, 2020, it was reported that ReDucate was to disband, and its titles, including Eipontan!, were to close by the end of the next year.[21]
Drecom first announced its cooperation with CrowdStar on December 15, 2009, along with the news that it would be localizing their title Happy Aquarium and offering it as a mixi application, along with plans to develop a mobile version. [22] On August 25, 2010, CrowdStar announced its partnership with Drecom for the purpose of publishing its social games in Japan. Drecom launched CrowdStar titles Happy Aquarium and Happy Island on mixi, GREE, Yahoo! Mobage, and Hangame, with plans for the entire CrowdStar catalog to follow.[23][24][25] The partnership was said to allow CrowdStar to launch its games in Japan more quickly, localize, test new mechanics, and improve its marketing.[26][27][28]
On October 31, 2016, wholly owned subsidiary Grimoire (developer of Sword x Sword, Dragon x Dreizehn, and Brave Sword x Blaze Soul in the same Maken Denshō series, the latter of which has continued separately from Drecom) was sold to mobile game developing and management company Happy Elements, Ltd. for 226 million yen.[32][33]
On August 3, 2017, Drecom, Ltd. and Bandai Namco Entertainment partnered and co-founded subsidiary BXD (shorthand for "Breakthrough x Digital Life").[34] BXD created the HTML5 gaming platform enza, which amassed over 5,000,000 players in 2019, bringing the project into profit in its second year of operation. It also created titles Dragon Ball Z Bucchigiri Match, Idolmaster Shiny Colors, Pro Yakyuu Famista Master Owners, and Naruto x Boruto Ninja Tribes.[35][36][37][38][39][40]
On January 31, 2020, an agreement was made for Drecom to sell its remaining 49% stake in BXD to Bandai Namco Entertainment, which made it a fully owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco when the acquisition was completed in March 2020.[42][43][44] [45][46] [47]
On June 7, 2023, Drecom pre-opened a manga publishing website called "DRE Comics".[48]
