GungHo Online Entertainment Inc. President and CEO Kazuki Morishita says a revamped version of the company's widely popular "Puzzle & Dragons" mobile game, due out July 17 in Japan, will appeal to a wider range of players.
"It will also be fun for those casual users who may have thought it was too difficult to grow monsters," Morishita said Wednesday.
The game for smartphones and other devices, commonly shorthanded to "pazudora" in Japanese, is a combination of solving pieces and collecting monsters, all in a role-playing environment. GungHo is planning to allow people to play the puzzle portion only.
Since its release in February 2012, the app has been downloaded more than 28 million times in Japan, 4 million in the United States and Canada, 2 million in South Korea and 1 million in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Existing players "will also be able to enjoy a 'Puzzdra' different than before," after the update, Morishita said.
He also indicated the game will be updated for overseas markets including Europe, the United States and South Korea.