Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corp. has set up a media company in Taiwan in partnership with Taiwanese game developer Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., aiming to accelerate the digitization of its business.
The joint venture, named WalkerMedia Co., was launched in July with capital of 100 million Taiwan dollars, with Kadokawa Taiwan Corp., the publisher's local arm, owning a 70 percent stake and Gamania holding 30 percent.
WalkerMedia incorporates Kadokawa Taiwan's major travel and gourmet-related journals TaipeiWalker and JapanWalker, as well as the WalkerLand website that provides information from the two journals.
"The publishing industry is required to transition into an era of digitization, and collaboration with a company with a digital nature is a sure way to generate sparks between content and technology," Kadokawa Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa told a news conference held Tuesday in Taipei.
"At a time when Kadokawa Taiwan is entering a revamping phase, we have to accelerate the transition to digitization," Taketo Iwasaki, CEO of Kadokawa Taiwan, told reporters.
"The venture media combines both parties' creativity and resources, which I anticipate will bring brand new digital content to users in Taiwan," said Gamania's Chairman & CEO Albert Liu, citing Kadokawa's 70 years of experience in content generation.
Liu revealed a plan to expand the scope of the current website to include Southeast Asian countries.