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Gree (Japanese company)

GREE Holdings, Inc. (グリーホールディングス株式会社) is a Japanese social media and video game company with headquarters in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Tokyo.[1] It has been operating the social network service GREE since its establishment in December 2004.

Etymology

The company name GREE comes from a hypothesis, Six Degrees of Separation postulated by social psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1967. "Six degrees of separation" is a hypothesis that everyone is approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth. If a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements are made, on average, any two people in the world can be connected in six steps or fewer. The name symbolizes GREE's hope to "create and provide any new possibilities of the Internet" and to "create new forms of fun, convenience, and excitement."[2]

History

  • Feb. 2004: Release of GREE alpha to the public by Yoshikazu Tanaka as a personal hobby
  • Mar. 2004: Exceeds 10,000 users
  • Dec. 2004: Established GREE, Inc.
  • Nov. 2006: Launches EZ GREE (now au one GREE) as a KDDI Mobile official service
  • Feb. 2007: Launches GREE as a NTT Docomo official service
  • Mar. 2007: Exceeds 1 million users
  • Aug. 2007: Launches GREE as a Softbank official service
  • Dec. 2008: Listed on the Market of the High-Growth and Emerging Stocks
  • Apr. 2009: Exceeds 10 million users
  • Jun. 2010: Exceeds 20 million users
  • Jun. 2010: Listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
  • Jun. 2010: Release of third-party applications on "GREE Platform"
  • Jul. 2010: Relocates Company headquarters to Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo
  • Nov. 2010: Announcement of investment in Project Goth, Inc.
  • Dec. 2010: Launches "GREE Platform for smartphone"
  • Dec. 2010: Exceeds 23.8 million users
  • Jan. 2011: Establishment of a subsidiary, GREE International, Inc. in the US
  • Jan. 2011: Acquisition of Atlantis Co., Ltd.
  • Jan. 2011: Announcement of business collaboration with Tencent
  • Apr. 2011: Buys US social mobile gaming platform OpenFeint for $104 million[3]
  • May 2012: GREE purchased the mobile game developer Funzio for $210 million[4]

Subsidiaries

GREE Entertainment

GREE Entertainment, Inc., formerly Funplex, is an anime production and video game licensing company. It was formed on July 1, 2021 through a merger of GREE Inc.'s gaming and licensing divisions with Funplex.[5]

GREE Studios

GREE Studios is a video game development studio founded on November 1, 2024 from a consolidation of WFS and Pokelabo's consumer (console and PC) games business.[6]

WFS, Inc.

WFS, Inc. (株式会社WFS), formerly Wright Flyer Studios, is a live service game developer and publisher wholly owned by GREE Holdings. It was founded on February 21, 2014 by GREE director Eiji Araki.[7][8]

Pokelabo

Pokelabo is a brand of WFS focused on live service game development. Founded in 2007, Pokelabo was acquired by GREE in October 2012 for $173.8 million.[17] On January 1, 2025, Pokelabo was converted from a wholly owned subsidiary of GREE into a video game brand under WFS, with its game development business absorbed by WFS.[6]

REALITY

REALITY, Inc., formerly Wright Flyer Live Entertainment, is a live entertainment company specializing in VTubers. Founded by Eiji Araki in April 2018,[7] the company has operated the virtual live streaming app Reality since August 2018.[21]

External links

References

  1. Company Overview GREE Holdings, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  2. About Us - History GREE, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  3. Jon Jordan. Japanese social gaming platform GREE buys OpenFeint for $104 million PocketGamer.biz, April 22, 2011, retrieved August 30, 2019^
  4. Eric Savitz. Japan's GREE To Buy Mobile Game Maker Funzio For $210M Forbes, May 1, 2012, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  5. Establishment of GREE Entertainment, Inc. GREE Entertainment, July 1, 2021, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  6. Sal Romano. GREE establishes GREE Studios to manage consumer games business; live service games business absorbed by WFS Gematsu, November 14, 2024, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  7. About Us - Management GREE Holdings, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  8. WFS - ABOUT WFS, Inc., retrieved March 9, 2025^
  9. GigaMedia Launches Mobile Game Shoumetsu Toshi (Disappeared City) in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau GigaMedia Limited, June 1, 2016, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  10. スマホ用「アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫」、配信日決定 GAME Watch, April 4, 2017, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  11. Sal Romano. Wild Arms: Million Memories launches September 26 in Japan Gematsu, September 20, 2018, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  12. Sal Romano. Fishing Star: World Tour for Switch launches January 31 in Japan [Update] Gematsu, January 15, 2019, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  13. Sal Romano. Shoumetsu Toshi: Afterlost announced for smartphones, launches worldwide in April 2019 Gematsu, December 26, 2018, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  14. 《Afterlost - 消滅都市》宣布將於 2021 年 6 月 30 日結束營運 GNN News, May 6, 2021, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  15. Sal Romano. Heaven Burns Red launches February 10 in Japan Gematsu, February 3, 2022, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  16. Sal Romano. Echoes of Mana launches April 27, animated trailer Gematsu, April 22, 2022, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  17. Rick Martin. GREE Acquires Japanese Social Game Publisher Pokelabo for $173.8 Million Tech in Asia, October 24, 2012, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  18. Sal Romano. SINoALICE launches June 6 in Japan Gematsu, May 23, 2017, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  19. スマートフォン向けゲームアプリ「アサルトリリィ Last Bullet」のリリース日が2021年1月20日(水)に決定！公式生放送も実施！ Bushiroad, December 18, 2020, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  20. Sal Romano. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra for iOS, Android launches March 27 Gematsu, March 8, 2025, retrieved March 9, 2025^
  21. Kazuaki Nagata. Gree-owned firm launches app aimed at boosting Japan's booming world of 'virtual YouTubers' The Japan Times, August 7, 2018, retrieved March 9, 2025^