GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. (ガンホー・オンライン・エンターテイメント株式会社) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher.Their most prominent game is the mobile game Puzzle & Dragons, originally published in 2012 but still a major game in 2025, and the source of the vast majority of the company's revenue in the 2010s and 2020s.They are also known for hosting the Japanese server of Ragnarok Online, developed by its listed Korean subsidiary Gravity.
History
The company was established as ONSale Co., Ltd. on July 1, 1998, as a joint venture between Softbank and onSale Inc. to engage in the online interactive auction business in the US.
In 2000, the company moved its headquarters to Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan and changed its focus to providing auction systems, etc. using ASP.[3]
In 2002, the company once again changed its focus, this time to Online Game Services. Primarily hosting the Japanese server of Ragnarok Online.
In 2004 the company began joint development of
online games
with
Game Arts Co., Ltd.
In March 2005, the company was listed on the Hercules Nippon New Market.
In August 2005, the company invested in G-Mode Co., Ltd. a game manufacturer for mobile phones.
In December 2005, the MMORPG developed by GungHo, Emil Chronicle Online, was officially released.
In August 2006, it completed the contract to distribute Ragnarok Online II.
In October 2007, GungHo Works, Inc., behind the development of Ragnarok DS, was established.
In November 2007, the company acquired the video game assets of Interchannel from Index Corporation.[4]
In April 2008, Gravity Co., Ltd. was acquired as a subsidiary.
In 2012, GungHo released the mobile Puzzle & Dragons which single-handedly made the company a huge financial success. In 2013, P&D was reportedly responsible for 91% of the company's $1.6 billion revenues for the year.[5]
In January 2013, GungHo acquired Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio behind titles such as Killer7, the No More Heroes franchise and Lollipop Chainsaw.[6]
On June 3, 2016, Softbank agreed to sell most of its stake in GungHo (approximately 23.47%) for about $685 million, which would end Softbank's majority ownership of the company, resulting in Gungho no longer being an associate of Softbank.[7][8][9] The offer was accepted by Gungho and completed by June 22, thus allowing Gungho to become an independent company.[10][11]
In October 2021, GungHo sold Grasshopper Manufacture to NetEase.[12]
In 2025, the investor fund Strategic Capital, holder of an joint 8% stake in the shares of the company, launched a shareholder bid to oust CEO Kazuki Morishita. They argued that Morishita had let the company stagnate as a "one-hit wonder" without anything else of the level of success of Puzzle & Dragons, and that Morishita was overpaid, with him earning a higher salary than Nintendo's CEO.[13]
