Corporate brand
UnclaimedGREE is a Japanese social-network, mobile-game, and digital-entertainment company built around the GREE social platform.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
GREE is a Japanese digital-entertainment company whose name originated with the GREE social-network service launched by Yoshikazu Tanaka. The service began as a personal project in early 2004 and was formally incorporated as GREE, Inc. in December of that year. Its name refers to the six degrees of separation concept: the idea that people can be connected through a short chain of social relationships. The company used that idea to express an ambition to create new forms of connection, entertainment, convenience, and online possibility. The original GREE service was a social networking platform that allowed users to create profiles, maintain friendships, communicate, and participate in community features. It expanded through official mobile partnerships, including services distributed through KDDI, NTT Docomo, and SoftBank. User growth accelerated rapidly: the service passed one million users in 2007, ten million in 2009, and twenty million in 2010. During this period GREE evolved from a social-network operator into a platform company combining social features, mobile games, advertising, and third-party applications. A major turning point came with the creation of the GREE Platform. The company introduced third-party applications in 2010 and later developed a smartphone version of the platform. This positioned GREE within Japan's fast-growing mobile-social gaming market, where social graphs, virtual items, and mobile distribution were combined. The company pursued international expansion through GREE International in the United States, investments in technology and advertising businesses, and acquisitions of mobile-game companies and platforms. Its purchases of OpenFeint, Funzio, and Pokelabo expanded its access to overseas publishing, social gaming, and game-development capabilities. GREE's business subsequently broadened beyond the original social network. Its entertainment portfolio has included mobile-game development and publishing, game licensing, anime-related activities, live entertainment, and virtual-avatar or VTuber services. Important businesses associated with the group include GREE Entertainment, WFS, Pokelabo, and REALITY. GREE Entertainment was formed in 2021 through the combination of GREE's gaming and licensing divisions with Funplex. WFS has operated as a wholly owned game-development and publishing subsidiary, while Pokelabo became a game brand under WFS after its development operations were reorganized. REALITY focuses on virtual live streaming and VTuber-oriented entertainment. The company entered public markets in Japan in 2008 and moved to the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2010. Its corporate center was relocated to Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo during the same period. GREE remains associated with social and mobile entertainment, but its operating identity has increasingly centered on games, intellectual property, live digital experiences, and related technology rather than on the original social-network service alone. The supplied reference material does not establish a single current consumer-facing product as the group's sole flagship, and the availability or prominence of individual services may change as GREE reorganizes its game and entertainment businesses.
History
GREE's origins date to February 2004, when Yoshikazu Tanaka made an early version of the service available as a personal hobby project. The service was named after the six degrees of separation hypothesis, using the concept of short social links as a metaphor for online connection. It surpassed 10,000 users in March 2004, and GREE, Inc. was incorporated in December. The company initially developed GREE as a Japanese social networking service. Its growth was supported by official mobile distribution arrangements. EZ GREE, later known as au one GREE, launched with KDDI in November 2006. Official versions followed for NTT Docomo in February 2007 and SoftBank in August 2007. The service passed one million users in March 2007, entered Japan's Market of the High-Growth and Emerging Stocks in December 2008, and exceeded ten million users in April 2009. By 2010, GREE had become a major mobile-social platform. It passed twenty million users in June and reported more than 23.8 million users by December. In June, it moved to the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company also opened GREE Platform to third-party applications and launched a smartphone-focused version later in the year. Its headquarters moved to Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo in July 2010. GREE then pursued international and adjacent-technology expansion. It established GREE International in the United States in January 2011, acquired advertising-technology company Atlantis, announced a collaboration with Tencent, and purchased OpenFeint, a US mobile social-gaming platform. In 2012 it acquired Funzio and Pokelabo, strengthening its position in mobile game creation and publishing. These moves reflected a strategic shift from operating a domestic social network to building a broader digital-entertainment group. The group continued to reorganize its businesses around games, licensing, and live digital entertainment. WFS, originally founded as Wright Flyer Studios in 2014, became a wholly owned game developer and publisher. A separate live-entertainment company associated with the group, founded as Wright Flyer Live Entertainment and later known as REALITY, developed the REALITY virtual live-streaming service from 2018. In 2021, GREE merged its gaming and licensing divisions with Funplex to create GREE Entertainment. In 2024, GREE consolidated the consumer console and PC game operations of WFS and Pokelabo into GREE Studios. In January 2025, Pokelabo's development business was absorbed into WFS and Pokelabo continued as a WFS game brand. GREE's history therefore spans several phases: social-network creation, mobile-operator distribution, platform and virtual-item expansion, international acquisitions, and diversification into games and virtual entertainment. The original GREE service remains the historical foundation of the company, while the group's later structure emphasizes game studios, publishing, licensing, and live digital communities.
- 2025
Pokelabo is reorganized as a WFS brand
[1]Pokelabo's development operations were absorbed by WFS and the name continued as a game brand.
- 2024
GREE Studios is established
[1]WFS and Pokelabo consumer console and PC game activities were consolidated into GREE Studios.
- 2021
GREE Entertainment is formed
[1]GREE combined gaming and licensing operations with Funplex to establish GREE Entertainment.
- 2012
Funzio and Pokelabo join GREE
[1]The acquisitions expanded GREE's mobile-game development and international publishing capabilities.
- 2011
International expansion accelerates
[1]GREE established a US subsidiary, acquired Atlantis and OpenFeint, and announced a collaboration with Tencent.
- 2010
GREE expands its platform and stock-market presence
[1]GREE moved to the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, opened its platform to third-party applications, and launched a smartphone platform.
- 2009
GREE passes ten million users
[1]The social-network service exceeded ten million users.
- 2008
GREE becomes publicly traded
[1]GREE listed on Japan's Market of the High-Growth and Emerging Stocks.
- 2007
GREE passes one million users
[1]The service exceeded one million users as official mobile distribution expanded.
- 2006
EZ GREE launches with KDDI
[1]GREE began operating an official mobile service through KDDI's network.
Products and positioning
A Japanese digital-entertainment group that connects social networking, mobile and consumer games, intellectual-property licensing, and virtual live experiences.
Social networking service · 2004
GREE social network
The original GREE service is a Japanese social-networking platform founded around user profiles, friendship links, communication, and community interaction. It began as a hobby project and became the foundation of the corporate group. Mobile-operator distribution helped it scale rapidly during the late 2000s, when it expanded from a standalone social service into a broader environment for games, applications, and digital entertainment.
Mobile application and game platform · 2010
GREE Platform
GREE Platform extended the social network into an application ecosystem. Its opening to third-party applications in 2010 allowed outside developers to distribute social and mobile games through GREE's user network. The platform represented the company's shift toward a combination of social identity, game publishing, virtual goods, and mobile distribution rather than a purely communication-oriented service.
Smartphone entertainment platform · 2010
GREE Platform for smartphone
The smartphone version of GREE Platform was introduced as the company adapted its social and gaming ecosystem to smartphone usage. It supported the broader transition from carrier-oriented feature-phone services to app-based mobile entertainment and helped provide a foundation for GREE's subsequent emphasis on mobile games.
Video-game development and publishing · 2014
WFS
WFS, originally established as Wright Flyer Studios, is a wholly owned GREE game developer and publisher. Its business has focused on live-service and other digital games, while later group reorganizations placed additional consumer-game and Pokelabo development responsibilities within the WFS structure.
Virtual live-streaming service · 2018
REALITY
REALITY is a virtual live-entertainment platform associated with GREE's digital-entertainment group. It specializes in avatar-based streaming and VTuber-oriented experiences, extending GREE's activities from games and social networking into creator-led live communities.
Controversies
2016
Yinlong acquisition dispute and leadership controversy
The proposed Yinlong acquisition and financing plan was rejected by Gree Electric shareholders. The episode generated public debate about Dong Mingzhu's influence, corporate governance, capital allocation and the separation between Gree Electric and Gree Group. The supplied sources do not establish a regulatory finding of wrongdoing.
Brand decisions
2024
Consolidate consumer game development into GREE StudiosStrategyBackground
GREE reorganized its game-development operations to coordinate consumer console and PC activities.
Action taken
The consumer-game businesses of WFS and Pokelabo were consolidated into GREE Studios.
Aftermath
The restructuring created a distinct GREE Studios organization for the consolidated consumer-game business.
2021
Create GREE EntertainmentStrategyBackground
GREE sought to align its game, licensing, and entertainment assets under a more integrated structure.
Action taken
The gaming and licensing divisions were merged with Funplex to form GREE Entertainment.
Aftermath
The new company combined game-related activity with anime production and licensing capabilities.
2012
Acquire Funzio and PokelaboM&ABackground
GREE continued building mobile-game development and publishing capacity through acquisitions.
Action taken
GREE purchased Funzio and acquired Pokelabo.
Aftermath
The transactions broadened the group's game-development portfolio in the United States and Japan.
Funzio acquisition price. 210 million USD (2012)
2011
Acquire OpenFeint and expand internationallyM&ABackground
GREE sought to build a presence outside Japan and obtain technology and distribution relevant to mobile social gaming.
Action taken
The company established GREE International in the United States and acquired OpenFeint.
Aftermath
The acquisition added an international mobile-gaming platform to GREE's portfolio.
Acquisition price. 104 million USD (2011)
2010
Open GREE Platform to third-party applicationsProduct launchBackground
Rapid user growth created an opportunity to expand GREE from a social network into a broader mobile application and gaming ecosystem.
Action taken
GREE introduced third-party applications on GREE Platform and later launched a smartphone-oriented version.
Aftermath
The move strengthened GREE's platform role and supported its transition toward mobile games and digital entertainment.
Recent events
Sources3 sources
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