It’s no secret that South Korea-based KakaoTalk is growing in popularity. The app recently started creeping up on the 90 million user mark and has over 30 million users visiting the platform every day across Android, Windows Phone, iOS, and more, which makes it the perfect venue to launch advertising.
Tapjoy has decided to do exactly that, becoming the first global advertising platform to help Kakao Games developers monetize their apps in an agreement reached with Kakao, Inc. Kakao’s Games platform allows users to enjoy games with their KakaoTalk friends, share game scores, and compete for the highest ranks on leaderboards in real-time. Monetizing this segment of the app is a very good thing for KakaoTalk, Tapjoy, and Kakao Games developers.
“Kakao has enjoyed tremendous and rapid growth over the last year,” said Steve Wadsworth, President and CEO, Tapjoy. “With its KakaoTalk and Kakao Games platform, Kakao is at the forefront of emerging trends in the industry, and we cannot wait to help them and their partner developers grow even further.”
Kakao’s gaming platform represents a sizable and influential pocket of the global gaming market. Following the platform’s launch in July 2012, games on the platform now gross more than $40 million per month USD. On iOS, seven of the top 10 grossing games in Korea are on the Kakao Games platform; on Android, Kakao games make up eight of the top 10 games and 48 in the Top 100. The company also recently expanded its social gaming to Vietnam and Indonesia.
“There has been a tectonic shift in mobile throughout Asia over the past several years, largely lead by the mobile-messaging-as-a-platform apps,” Tapjoy’s Director of Developer Partnerships, Brian Sapp told TruTower. “Kakao has become the predominate market leader within this category in South Korea, reaching approximately 95% of the mobile population. As these platforms mature, it’s only reasonable that these companies would align themselves with the best and strongest advertising partners (like Tapjoy) to help fuel their growth. Tapjoy will continue to align ourselves with these market leading platforms globally and continue to deliver significant value to the platform, the developers, and ultimately the users.”
The partnership provides Tapjoy the opportunity to deliver “premium content” within some of the globe’s most popular games and apps, as well as the ability to expand its massive global reach, which already stands at more than 340 million.