In-game advertising network Double Fusion has separately funded its Japanese subsidiary with money from Sedona Capital, a Japan-based digital media fund that was part of its $26 million funding last December. The amount for Japan was not published separately.
The investment provides local funding for Double Fusion in Japan, the world’s second largest advertising market and home to seven of the top 20 videogame publishers and two of the three major console manufacturers.
In addition to being one of the world’s top console hardware and software markets, Japan is home to one of the world’s largest and most active online PC gaming communities, an audience of particular relevance to the game advertising industry.
In buying out in-game advertising network Massive for $200 million last year Microsoft legitimized the in-game market, and has begun a race to landgrab as much of it as possible and asked the question, which advertising networks will Nintendo, Sony and others rely on.
Double Fusion is not too far behind Massive in terms of acquiring games and offers technology at least as sophisticated, which is why it landed $26 million last year from Norwest Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Time Warner, Hearst, IDG Ventures Pacific and Sedona.
In-game advertising is where elements of a game are filled at start up from an online advertising network, to supply adverts on TVs, advertising hoardings, radio audio and race track sidings where adverts would be in real life.