South Korean Kakao Game Launches Globally

Kakao, the South Korean company behind Kakao Talk mobile messaging platform, has just announced the global launch of Kakao Games through a press release. Kakao Game is a social game platform linked to Kakao Talk messenger which allows friends to play games with or against each other connected using the messenger platform. The company claims that Kakao Game is the first to successfully combine and monetize a social platform and a gaming platform to a profitable level.

In just three months after its Korean launch, the service has generated more than $51 million in revenue with $31 million just in October thanks to 23 million users. The platform has had 82 million game downloads to date with an average of 3.58 games downloaded per subscriber. Seven out of the top ten top grossing games on Google Play in South Korea came from Kakao Game platform.

Players can sign in to Kakao Game using their Kakao Talk account and invite friends to play directly from within the games. Players can also share their scores through the Kakao Game API.

The launch titles for the Kakao Game are the hugely popular puzzle games Anipang, Tap Tap Blitz, and Puzzle Zoo Zoo. Kakao Game for Android should be available today with an iOS version to follow at a later date.

In Indonesia, Kakao is working with local telcos to provide carrier billing which would allow direct in-app purchases without having to buy game cards like with some other game platforms.