Gundam's giant fighting robots even bigger on Japan's Gree, DeNA

Just in case you haven't noticed, Japan kind of has a thing for gargantuan fighting robots. The incredible growth of mobile social games based on the popular Gundam franchise reflects this, as Gundam Masters by Gree has reached over 1 million players just over a month since its Sept. 1 release on Japanese mobile phones. Serkan Toto reports that the number breaks down to 1,262 players registered per hour since its launch.

Even more impressive is that the Gundam game available through DeNA's Mobage network, Gundam Royal, reached 1 million players in just six days when it launched in December of last year. According to Serkan Toto, the game now enjoys around 3 million players on the Mobage network, which just launched in China and across the English-speaking world through Ngmoco.

While these numbers certainly pale in comparison to, say, CityVille's meteoric growth going into 2011, there's likely more Gundam where this came from. DeNA just embarked on a joint venture with Bandai Namco, the company that holds the Gundam license, to make a 100 million yen joint studio project called BDNA Inc. And Serkan Toto reports that Bandai Namco is also working with competitor Gree to release four more mobile social games this year.

Mobile social games are clearly far bigger across the Pacific than they are in the U.S., but they're gaining traction in the western world as well. Several secret Zynga projects have been cropping up like Mafia Wars Shakedown and FarmVille Express. Not to mention companies like Capcom making major moves in the space with its Smurfs games. If 2011 was the year of social games, 2012 will certainly be the year of mobile social games.

[Via and Image Credit: The Next Web, Gunjap.net]

Do you think mobile social games are going to take off in the U.S. and abroad like they have in Japan? What social game are you dying to get to play on your mobile phone? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.