3 ms·

Overall solid article but strangely light on details. >Gaming was 40 percent of Line’s revenue in 2015, its largest single line item for income. >Gaming can b

Overall solid article but strangely light on details. >Gaming was 40 percent of Line’s revenue in 2015, its largest single line item for income. >Gaming can be high-grossing but it is also subject to fads and trends. Line’s games have performed well but, as we have seen in the past, just one title underperforming can drag the company’s revenue down. >“Historically, we have depended on a small number of games for a majority of our mobile game revenues, and we expect that this dependence will continue for the foreseeable future,” Line admitted in a filing. For example, their gaming revenue is dominated by "Tsum Tsum", a falling puzzle style game that uses Disney IP and the Line platform. It's been a top 5 game in Japan for a few years now. The fact that the article doesn't call this out specifically is surprising. Also, their sticker revenue is now about 20% of their revenues iirc (according to an article I recall reading last year), which I don't think was called out in the article. At one point this was 80%+ of their revenues. They seem to have achieved diversification of revenue sources, but core user growth is the main risk.

tuna-piano 10y ago
But is the type of gaming that would be associated with line a fad in totality? And are stickers just a fad as well? Will people be buying them 10 years from now?
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  I actually think stickers fill a real need of 1) "I am not exactly sure how I can respond best to my friend's message in words, but I can be vague and generally pleasant by using this cute/funny with this sticker" 2) I am too lazy / don't care enough to craft a thoughtful and appropriate message.
  - Larrikin 10y ago
    You forgot the 3rd case, the stickers can express more than just words and really shape the overall feeling of the conversation. Its a completely different style of conversation when talking to American friends over LINE that treat it like Facebook vs talking to a Japanese friend that is adding in stickers in between the text to add an entire different dynamic to the conversation. People use stickers differently which also helps show their different personalities.
  - sho_hn 10y ago
    Using stickers well is also a form of eloquence, and of demonstrating empathy. They're often commentary for just-received messages, i.e. it's a way to say "I got what you just tried to say" by picking the right sticker (individual well-known sticker types - such as poses or facial expressions found in many different packs across different characters - become tropes/memes). And people also tend to appropriate certain characters, so it becomes a way to maintain an identity within group.
egypturnash 10y ago
Given that there's a photo of a shelf full of merch of Line's characters in the middle of the article, I wonder how much of their revenue is just that. And how much of their game revenue is coming from games starring their characters. Come up with simple, cute characters, and stick them on everything possible. Hey, it worked for Sanrio...

tuna-piano 10y ago

But is the type of gaming that would be associated with line a fad in totality? And are stickers just a fad as well? Will people be buying them 10 years from now?

hkmurakami 10y ago
I actually think stickers fill a real need of 1) "I am not exactly sure how I can respond best to my friend's message in words, but I can be vague and generally pleasant by using this cute/funny with this sticker" 2) I am too lazy / don't care enough to craft a thoughtful and appropriate message.
- Larrikin 10y ago
  You forgot the 3rd case, the stickers can express more than just words and really shape the overall feeling of the conversation. Its a completely different style of conversation when talking to American friends over LINE that treat it like Facebook vs talking to a Japanese friend that is adding in stickers in between the text to add an entire different dynamic to the conversation. People use stickers differently which also helps show their different personalities.
- sho_hn 10y ago
  Using stickers well is also a form of eloquence, and of demonstrating empathy. They're often commentary for just-received messages, i.e. it's a way to say "I got what you just tried to say" by picking the right sticker (individual well-known sticker types - such as poses or facial expressions found in many different packs across different characters - become tropes/memes). And people also tend to appropriate certain characters, so it becomes a way to maintain an identity within group.

egypturnash 10y ago

Given that there's a photo of a shelf full of merch of Line's characters in the middle of the article, I wonder how much of their revenue is just that. And how much of their game revenue is coming from games starring their characters. Come up with simple, cute characters, and stick them on everything possible. Hey, it worked for Sanrio...