Travel Frog Maker Mulls China Version After Game Goes Viral
Dou Shicong
DATE:  Jan 31 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Travel Frog Maker Mulls China Version After Game Goes Viral Travel Frog Maker Mulls China Version After Game Goes Viral

(Yicai Global) Jan. 31 -- HitPoint Studios Co. is considering the release of a Chinese version of mobile game Travel Frog due to its vast popularity in the world's largest smartphone market.

The game, which is only available in Japanese, has logged 10 million downloads on Apple Inc.'s App Store, with 95 percent of those coming from China, the Japan-based company said in a statement. Only 2 percent of downloads are from Japan and 1 percent came from the U.S.

HitPoint is researching the reasons behind the game's success in China and may release Chinese and English versions, it added. Travel Frog topped the China App Store's list of free apps on Jan. 29 and remains in the number one spot today.

Travel Frog involves looking after an adventurous amphibian by preparing meals for journeys it undertakes. It then brings back gifts from its travels and also sends selfies taken at scenic spots. As the user doesn't need to have any input while the frog is away on a trip, it doesn't consume time that should be spent working or studying.

Downloads across the App Store and Google Inc.'s Google Play have topped 22 million, lead producer Masahiroko Uemura told QQ Tech yesterday. Travel Frog came out in November and was a run-of-the-mill app game until January, when hordes of Chinese players began downloading it. The actual number of downloads could be far larger than the reported figure, she added.

Many game developers aim for players to spend as much time as possible on their game, but Uemura said Travel Frog has changed that idea for her. The game, a new take on the classic Tamagotchi, was intended to be popular among teenage girls and young adult women by appealing to their maternal instincts, and it has managed to capture a number of users who don't usually play mobile games.

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Keywords:   Travel Frog,HitPoint,Mobile Game