This Company Had Most Lucrative Mobile Game Ever. Now It Needs a New Hit
- Mixi shares down 61 percent from peak as Monster Strike slows
- New product aims to combine sports watching with video games
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Five years ago, Koki Kimura pulled off an unthinkable turnaround to save his company. Now, he’s trying to do it again.
The 42-year-old runs a tech company called Mixi Inc. with one of the most tumultuous corporate histories in Japan. It operated the country’s most popular social network for years -- until Facebook showed up. Then Kimura led the games business to develop Monster Strike, which became the most lucrative mobile game in history. Now profits are slowing and a scandal over concert tickets claiming the job of his predecessor as president, Mixi needs reinvention again.