Digital entertainment firm JetSynthesys inks partnership with Japanese tech co Digital Hearts Holding

Pune-headquartered digital entertainment firm JetSynthesys has inked a partnership with Japanese tech company Digital Hearts Holding Co (DHH) to expand its presence in Japan.

The two firms will enter a 50:50 joint venture in India, according to a statement shared by the company.

As part of this collaboration, DHH will invest in JetSynthesys Co Ltd (JetSynthesys Japan). JetSynthesys Japan will support business development in Western countries for DHH, while DHH will support business development in Japan and other key Eastern Asian markets for JetSynthesys Japan. 

Rajan Navani, CEO and Founder of JetSyntheses, told YourStory that DHH will also be acquiring a minority stake in the JetSynthesys' Japanese entity.

This move will enable JetSynthesys to move into Japan in a big way, nearly four years after setting up a unit in the country, said Navani.

"Digital Hearts being a listed company, having over 10,000 people there [in Japan], deeply engaged in the gaming ecosystem, is a big advantage for us," he said.

According to Navani, the joint venture will help game developers in India access resources from Japan. The partnership will also help understand how to use the models operating in both countries in other geographies, he said.

"Japanese gamers are big on in-app purchases ... From Japan, we will learn how to better monetise customers. Advertising and (other ways of) monetising well is something we believe we will be able to bring to Japan," said Navani.

"While this announcement is largely about our global footprint being expanded, it is also us being able to do much more with this partnership for India and the rest of the world," he added.

"This collaboration enables us to expand our presence in the Indian gaming market and offer our extensive QA (quality assurance) services, while also opening up new avenues for the global gaming industry out of Japan," said Toshiya Tsukushi, Director, Executive Vice President, and COO, DHH, in a statement.

JetSyntheses' partnership with DHH comes at a time when gaming companies in India are rethinking their strategies in the country in the face of new regulations pertaining to GST and rising customer acquisition costs in the country. Some companies are looking at other geographies, including Brazil, to launch their games.

JetSynthesys is part of the JetLine Group of Companies, the roots of which originated in the 1930s in Bangkok, Thailand. It has had a presence in India since 1974. The company is backed by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Adar Poonawalla, Sachin Tendulkar, and the multi-billion-dollar family offices of the promoters of Thermax, Triveni Group, Yohan Poonawalla Group, and DSP Group.