Pokelabo

About Pokelabo

Pokelabo, Inc. is a Japanese game developer focused on planning, developing, and operating mobile social applications. The company was founded in November 2007 by Takafumi Goto, who was a student at Nihon University College of Art at the time, and Shunsuke Sasaki, who was an employee at NTT Comware. The two met in an entrepreneur community on the social media platform mixi and began their venture by living and working together in a condominium in Kayabacho.

The company's mission since its inception has been to "change the world and people with social apps." Pokelabo released its first app, "Pocket Bookmark," in July 2008. It shifted its focus to social game development as platforms like Mobage Town opened up to third-party developers. Early successes included titles like "Samurai Kingdom" and "Samurai Senki," with the latter launching on Mobage Town in January 2010. By 2012, Pokelabo began concentrating its resources on smartphone native applications, a move that spurred rapid growth. Several of its native apps, such as "The Clan Battle of Fate" and "Sangoku Infinity," achieved top rankings on the App Store's top-grossing charts.

A significant milestone occurred in October 2012 when GREE, Inc. acquired all shares of Pokelabo for approximately 13.8 billion yen, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. This acquisition was a strategic move by GREE to bolster its smartphone game development capabilities by integrating Pokelabo's expertise. Despite the acquisition, Pokelabo maintained a degree of operational independence. In November 2012, Pokelabo established a joint venture called SPG labo with Sega Networks.

The company's business model is centered on the free-to-play-model with in-app purchases. Revenue is generated when users purchase in-game items, and this revenue is recognized over the estimated usage period of those items. Pokelabo has been behind several popular titles, often in collaboration with other companies, such as "SINoALICE" with Square Enix and "Assault Lily Last Bullet." As of January 1, 2025, Pokelabo, the corporate entity, was merged into its sister company WFS, another subsidiary of GREE. However, "Pokelabo" continues to exist as a game brand under WFS.