Chinese game developer Netdragon and Japanese online services company DeNA have formed a joint venture aimed at developing mobile social games tailored to the Chinese market.

The JV will localise non-Chinese social games including titles developed by DeNA and its third party partners from the US and Japan. The games will then be distributed on NetDragon’s app distribution platforms and DeNA’s Mobage China platform.

Fujian-based NetDragon will benefit from DeNA’s social gaming expertise while DeNA will gain access to NetDragon’s experience in developing and operating Chinese-language games. There are plans to develop original games including massively multiplayer online games for Mobage.

NetDragon initially started to work with DeNA in April 2011with the Mobage China app appearing on NetDragon’s app store. The JV will have US$6 million of start-up capital and start with 30 members of staff.  

DeNA also recently announced a partnership with Chinese social network Kaixin001 for its 120 million users to access Mobage China using their Kaixin log-in details.