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Reliance Games aquires companies in Korea & Japan
Mumbai: In a bid to expand its global presence, Reliance Big Entertainment‘s Reliance Games has acquired a mobile game development and publishing company in Japan and a mobile game development studio in Korea.
The recent ingress of Reliance Games into Japan and Korea will play a pivotal role in the company’s international roadmap. According to the company, the Japanese and Korean business set-ups give Reliance Games direct access to the two largest mobile gaming markets known to the world.
The company aims to adopt a two pronged approach for the new set-ups; while the Japanese and Korean facilities will develop IPs targeted to local consumers, they will in future also be responsible for R&D of multi-player mobile games for the western markets.
In Tokyo, Japan, Reliance Big Entertainment has through its subsidiary Reliance Big Entertainment Japan fully acquired the gaming division of Funnel Japan along with its team and all the IPs under development and has created Reliance Games Japan. The company in Japan will be responsible for development and publishing of games for the local market.
In Busan, Korea, Reliance Big Entertainment Japan has bought a majority stake of 51 per cent in the gaming studio Bluesom. As a part of the deal, the company has also acquired a few IPs.
Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Manish Agarwal said, “Reliance Games, after the success of Real Steel and F1 2011 mobile games globally, has embarked on a journey of expanding its business beyond North America markets. With this acquisition in Japan and Korea Reliance Games has made inroads into the world’s largest mobile gaming markets and looks forward to tap the 5.5 Bln USD and 1.3 Bln USD mobile gaming markets of Japan and Korea respectively.”
“Investment in the development studio at Busan, Korea and in the distribution team at Tokyo, Japan will enable us to develop games for local markets instead of trying to force fit western games in these markets. I have full confidence on teams at Korea and Japan to establish Reliance Games as a very innovative and successful gaming brand,” Agarwal added.
Reliance Games VP-Global Studios Eric Marlow said, “The Company’s expansion into the Japanese and Korean markets is significant and strategic. We see now a clear path that allows us product and development capacity in both countries. We are extremely excited by the new capabilities added to our team and we think our customers will enjoy the games we are preparing for them.”
The company has brought on board Hwa Seok Choi in the role of chief revenue officer for Reliance Games Japan.
Reliance Games will be launching three games in the ‘social card game’ and ‘real time strategy game’ categories, on feature phones and smart devices in the next three quarters in Japan and Korea. Apart from these new games, Reliance Games will also be launching its Hollywood IP based games localised for these markets.
The company has also created mobile games for IPs like Real Steel, Total Recall, F1 2011, Mirror Mirror and Electric City.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
