KDDI, Sumitomo to enter Myanmar mobile game market

Japanese operator KDDI and conglomerate Sumitomo have revealed plans to jointly enter Myanmar’s mobile game industry through newly created joint venture Funcreate Myanmar.

Funcreate Myanmar, a subsidiary of the companies’ Singapore-based joint venture Funcreate, will localize and distribute mobile games from Japan and other countries throughout Myanmar.

Funcreate was established in November last year and has been a joint venture since April. It is 51% owned by KDDI and 49% owned by Sumitomo.

The companies aim to attract more than 1 million downloads for each game title offered. Myanmar’s mobile games market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 52% due to the nation’s rapidly developing mobile phone market.

KDDI has meanwhile established a strategic partnership with Singapore-based mobile game service provider goGame to take advantage of the latter’s expertise in game procurement, development, operation and marketing for the Asian market.

Sumitomo, which launched a mobile game sales operation in North America in 2018, will meanwhile provide strategic marketing proposals for the new mobile game business operation, tailored to the Myanmar market.

KDDI and Sumitomo were selected in 2014 to partner with state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecom to operate a joint venture providing fixed and mobile services in the rapidly developing local telecoms market.