Helsinki based VC Vision+ has set their eyes on China where big dreams, if successful, turn into even bigger profits. Last year they hit our news with a fresh €50 million to pump into promising companies. Their more than colorful portfolio includes everything from Manga distribution to movies starred by Samuel L Jackson.
MyGamez, a Chinese mobiles games publisher and Vision+ protégee has announced their Q1 portfolio, which includes massive western game hits like Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing and Frogmind’s indie hype Badland. Their setup for the Chinese markets are convincing; they have billing and publishing partnerships with carriers like China Mobile and they own the business licenses required for publishing and collecting game revenues in China.
Vision+ couldn’t be happier:
“We at Vision+ Fund believe that cooperation with MyGamez is an excellent way for Western game studios to enter massive growing Chinese mobile apps market. By funding Mygamez our aim is to help both our own investment portfolio’s companies to make better business and also give support the overall quality title game community”, says Mr Marko Tulonen, Vision+ Partner and Co-Founder.
The MyGamez game portfolio will also include known and less known jewels of the Finnish game industry, and certainly not by coincidence.
“The mobile game industry in Finland is just amazing and we’re really proud to be able to bring these games to China,” said MyGamez CEO Mikael Leinonen. “We’re not only focusing on proven hits like Hill Climb Racing, Badland and Benji Bananas, but also looking at new titles from both leading multi-national game studios and the smallest indie developers.”
Soon enough future Chinese mobile phone purchasers will have their devices equipped with pre-installed western games, a strategy Leinonen says will effectively reach end users before they have time to think which app store to use. This has been made possible with close collaboration with top brands like Samsung, Lenovo and Xiaomi, once the importance of devices as content delivery channels in China became clear.
“We want to prove that your game doesn’t necessarily need to be a big or established name in order to make it big in China,” he said. “Our publishing concept makes it easy and safe for small developers to enter and we believe the entire process should be as straightforward and transparent as possible. In short, we aim to revolutionise the way foreign games are published in China.”
While Finnish games may gain more foothold in the exotic East, Leinonen says this works for both sides. Games like Assault Wave and Tunnel Ground have succeeded in China while the West has yet to see their full glory.
