Releasing on LINE Platform
Business Partnerships with NowDo Inc.(CEO: Keisuke Honda)
Playco, the world’s first instant gaming company which raised a $100 million Series A funding round at a $1 billion valuation in September 2020, announces the release of Trip Royale, its first title on the LINE messaging platform, on April 22, 2021.
Trip Royale can be enjoyed directly on the LINE platform without the need to download an additional app, and allows players to play simultaneously with their friends on LINE, a messenger used by more than 167 million people1.
Through a partnership with NowDo Inc. (CEO: Keisuke Honda, Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan), Playco and NowDo Inc. aim to spread educational content through the game and combine promotion efforts.
About Trip Royale
Trip Royale, produced by Playco, is an instant game that can be played directly on the messaging platform LINE. The game allows players to travel throughout all 47 prefectures of Japan with their friends, visit famous sights, and collect local specialties, using nothing more than their smartphone.
Players aim to level up and complete the map of each prefecture, helping out and sometimes competing with each other along the way.
The game allows players to experience the beauty that Japan and its local attractions have to offer together with their LINE friends, even during the current COVID-19 pandemic, and without the need to download an additional app.
Due to the continuing spread of COVID-19, states of emergency or comparable measures are continuously being announced all over the world. With major restrictions not only for international, but also domestic travel, many people are unable to meet their loved ones, their family and friends. Even many schools have limited the presence of students to prioritize the safety of everyone, and have switched to alternative ways of learning, such as online lessons. To reduce the pent up frustration many people feel as a result of such measures, Playco’s goal for Trip Royale is to connect places and people, and create a chance for learning.
Comment from Playco Co-founder, SVP & Executive Producer, Takeshi Otsuka:
“Trip Royale is the first game Playco is releasing in Japan. I am extremely grateful for this chance to sign an agreement with LINE’s Game Channeling Business that allows us to bring this game to everyone already using LINE, and to have people all over Japan enjoy the game. With the current COVID-19 situation and resulting travel restrictions, many people are unable to meet their family and friends, and we at Playco want to give everyone a chance to instead experience these important human connections through our game.”
Trip Royale details
a. Download LINE app
b. Trip Royale Official LINE account Click link or scan QR code, and add official Trip Royale LINE account as a friend
c. Start game through official Trip Royale LINE account
About the collaboration with NowDo Inc.
Merging NowDo’s vision of creating a world where anyone can keep chasing their dreams and Playco’s mission of bringing the world closer together through play, both companies will create a new form of learning inside the game Trip Royale!
By combining NowDo’s novel approach to learning and Playco’s strength in game design, bearing fruit in the title Trip Royale both companies will jointly provide users with a chance to learn from worldwide leading professionals in various fields by connecting people from all over the world through the game, resulting in a service that enables people to actively look for and receive information, find their dreams, and keep challenging themselves. The collaboration will result in features such as connecting contents in Trip Royale to related content offered by NowDo, creating a smooth connection between playing and learning.
Both companies will collaborate and support each other to create a world where playing is the entry point for learning.
Furthermore, both companies will support each other’s promotion efforts to increase the visibility of their services
Comment from NowDo Inc. CEO Keisuke Honda:
"I believe in the great affinity and potential of the interaction between gaming and education, that we will realize through this collaboration with Playco. I think a lot of people feel that the act of studying poses a substantial hurdle. People’s opinions and worries differ, such as now knowing what to study. I feel that for these people, a game without the need for any new hardware, and not even for a download, will create a chance for learning and to take the next step. With the theme of Trip Royale being travelling through Japan, and looking at what difficulties people and companies face because of COVID-19, I feel that this game will have a substantial social impact. For people that developed new interests thanks to the game, we at NowDo, by delivering real information through our content, want to contribute to a world where anyone can live by doing what they love.
I want users to go back and forth between NowDo and Playco contents, seeing how both we and Playco value connecting so highly.
My goal for this collaboration is to have everyone that connected through the game come to our NowDo classroom."
Comment from Playco Co-founder & CEO, Michael Carter:
"Playco’s mission is to bring the world closer together through games, and we believe the Trip Royale game will do just that with the support and partnership of LINE and NowDo.
Players will be able to travel with friends and family together in the game during this time when physical realities make that otherwise very difficult. We are especially excited to offer the experience to players inside of LINE as well as on the app store such that people can always play with their closest friends and family no matter which device or store they want to use."
About Playco
Playco is the world’s first instant gaming company whose mission is to bring the world closer together through play. Instant games can be played by two or more people in the world together without the need to download additional apps. Playco’s most recent $100 million Series A funding was co-led by Josh Buckley and Sequoia Capital Global Equities, with additional participation from Sozo Ventures, Raymond Tonsing’s Caffeinated Capital, Keisuke Honda’s KSK Angel Fund, Taizo Son’s Mistletoe Singapore, Digital Garage, Will Smith’s Dreamers, Bragiel Brothers, Heritage Group, Makers Fund, East Ventures, Sisu Game Ventures, and others. Learn more at https://www.play.co/
Press Contact:
Playco PR Team, pr@play.co
About NowDo Inc.
To fulfill its vision of creating a world where anyone can keep chasing their dreams, and to solve the social challenge of educational inequality often caused by poverty, NowDo Inc. lets junior high school to college level students from all over the world participate in its social online school NowDo (https://nowdo.net) for free, and also operates the matching service NowEx for sports trainers with user as part of a demonstration project in collaboration with the Japanese ministry of sports. Starting from April 2020, NowDo Inc. is also operating the voice social network NowVoice (https://voice.nowdo.net/).
With its social online school NowDo (https://nowdo.net), NowDo Inc. enables junior high school to college level students to not only watch live online classes, but also create communities where they can find and interact with people from all over the world having the same dreams, goals, and values. Children and young adults eager to learn, and adults eager to teach, can also use tools such as the matching and voice chat room feature Classroom, and can work together to learn from the foremost professionals in various fields to acquire skills not taught in school, such as the power to live and how to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
Available platforms: iOS (App), Android (App), PC/smartphone (browser)
