Japanese F2P hit Puzzle & Dragons gains traction in the West

GungHo Online continues to expand its global presence through Puzzle & Dragons, which passed the 4 million downloads mark in North America this week. The free-to-play mobile game has been downloaded by more than 30 million people worldwide, but nearly two-thirds of those downloads have been from the company's home region of Japan. Now the company is taking pains to highlight the growing popularity of its flagship mobile title in the U.S., which is in line with assertions made by GungHo Online founder Kazuki Morishita during a recent interview with Gamasutra that his company is seeking to focus on expanding into foreign markets, starting with North America. "We're taking it one step at a time," Morishita told Gamasutra. "To have a presence in the U.S. that's as strong as it is in Japan." The company is also looking to embrace the Chinese market, as Reuters reports that GungHo intends to launch a localized version of Puzzle & Dragons in China before the end of the year.