What 6Waves does

6Waves (legal entity Six Waves Inc., incorporated in Hong Kong) is a mobile game publisher founded in 2008 that partners with game developers worldwide to localise, market, live-operate, and distribute titles in tier-one markets, with a flagship focus on Japan, the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company positions itself as one of the earliest foreign publishers to break into Japan's top mobile grossing ranks, with operations run from offices in Hong Kong (HQ, Wan Chai), Tokyo, and Beijing, and localised web presences for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean markets. Its published catalogue includes Attack on Titan: KEEP (strategy), Babes Overload/Honey Panic 蜂窩娘子 (casual), the Emoji Pop and Petal Pop puzzle franchises, and the strategy/RPG title Sengoku/霸王, distributed through Google Play and Apple App Store.

The publishing stack is a service-centric, full-stack offering covering culturalization (the company's term for localization tailored to Asian tier-one markets), product guidance, customer service, marketing, platform relationship management, live operations, technical support, quality assurance, community management, and VIP services. 6Waves targets mid/hardcore strategy and RPG developers globally via a B2B partnership model, with a developer signup flow on its site. Underlying technology is an operations-and-relations platform rather than proprietary game engine or infrastructure IP; the principal capitalised assets are the cumulative publishing playbook, platform relationships, and live-ops tooling exercised across its catalogue. The company has no disclosed patents, no exposed APIs or SDKs, and no AI/ML technology stack described in the source material.

Revenue is generated through two main streams: in-app virtual goods and virtual currency sales from end players in published titles, and revenue-share/professional-services economics on titles it publishes for third-party developers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and the company does not publish revenue figures. 6Waves has raised approximately $52.6 million across two disclosed rounds led by Insight Partners (2010 and 2011), completed three acquisitions (Lolapps in 2011, Smartron5 in 2011, Escalation Studios in 2012), and was acquired in 2020 by Stillfront Group AB (publ), the Nasdaq Stockholm-listed gaming conglomerate, under which it continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Leadership comprises Arthur Chow (Chief Executive Officer), Chris Lee (CTO and Co-Founder), and Rex Ng (President).

Name

6Waves

Legal name

Six Waves Inc.

Website

https://6waves.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

6Waves is a Hong Kong-headquartered mobile game publisher founded in 2008, partnering with global developers to localise, market, and live-operate strategy, RPG, and puzzle titles across tier-one markets in Japan, the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; wholly owned by Stillfront Group since 2020.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mobile Game Publishing

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

akta.pro primary industry

Mobile Game Publishing & App Game Stores (BPAMAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regional/Local Market Publishers & Distributors (Territory Rights, Localization-led Publishing) (MPAFABAH), Player Support & Community Operations (Customer Support, Moderation, CRM) (MPAFAKAD)

Keywords

• Mobile game publishing
• Game localization services
• Live operations support
• Culturalization services
• Mobile strategy games

Headquarters

HQ city

Wan Chai

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Virtual Goods and Currency Sales: Revenue from in-game virtual currency and virtual goods purchases made by players within published games. Virtual currency can be purchased with real money and virtual goods can be bought with currency or real money.
2. Publisher Services to Developers: 6Waves provides comprehensive publishing services to game developers including localization, marketing, platform relationships, live operations, technical support, QA, community management, and VIP services. Revenue is generated from successful game performance in the markets they publish to.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

6Waves is a full-service mobile game publisher that partners with game developers worldwide to publish mid/hardcore strategy and RPG titles in tier-one markets including Japan, the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Its offering spans the full publishing value chain: culturalization (localization), product guidance, customer service, marketing, platform relationships, live operations, technical support, quality assurance, community management, and VIP services. End products include published mobile games distributed via Google Play and the Apple App Store, monetized through in-game virtual goods and virtual currency purchases.

Product overview

6Waves is a global mobile game publisher founded in 2008, operating as part of the Stillfront Group. The company specializes in publishing strategy and RPG games in tier-one markets including Japan, the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Its service portfolio is built around full-stack game publishing, encompassing culturalization/localization, product guidance, customer service, marketing, platform relationship management, live operations, technical support, quality assurance, community management, and VIP services. The company publishes a portfolio of mobile games including Attack on Titan: KEEP (AOTK), Babes Overload/Honey Panic, Emoji Pop (in regional variants for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and global), Sengoku/霸王, and Petal Pop, distributed through Google Play and Apple App Store. The company also operates regional sites for Simplified Chinese (cn.6waves.com), Traditional Chinese (tw.6waves.com), Japanese (6waves.jp), and Korean markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mobile Game Publishing Services End-to-end mobile game publishing service for game developers seeking to commercialize mid/hardcore strategy and RPG titles in tier-one Asian markets (Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and the United States. Delivered under a revenue-share model.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pioneer in mobile game publishing in Japan
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Stillfront GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner6Waves is part of the Stillfront Group, a global group of gaming studios with its parent company Stillfront Group AB (publ), incorporated in Sweden and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. This is a significant corporate partnership providing 6Waves with backing from a publicly traded gaming company.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• GREE: Long-standing Japanese mobile and social game publisher originally focused on social network games before expanding into mobile. Comparable to 6Waves in its pioneering role in social/mobile publishing for Japanese and Asian markets and ongoing developer publishing partnerships.
• Playtika: Mobile game publisher operating a portfolio of free-to-play titles via app stores worldwide. Comparable to 6Waves in its multi-title mobile publishing model, live operations focus, and virtual goods monetization.
• Miniclip: Global mobile and online game publisher with a diverse multi-title portfolio distributed via app stores. Comparable to 6Waves in its broad publishing catalog, reliance on Apple/Google distribution, and mid/hardcore mobile strategy focus.
• iDreamSky: Asia-focused mobile game publisher that localizes and publishes third-party developer games for Greater China and other regional markets. Directly comparable to 6Waves in its role as a full-service mobile publishing intermediary serving developer partners in tier-one Asian markets.
• FunPlus: Mobile game developer and publisher with strong APAC roots and global publishing operations. Directly comparable to 6Waves in its combination of own-IP publishing plus third-party partnerships and Asia-centered origins.
• DeNA: Japanese mobile and social game publisher with deep Japan-market expertise that also publishes third-party titles internationally. Closely comparable to 6Waves' Japan-centric mobile publishing model and platform-relationship-driven distribution approach.

Broad incumbents

• Zynga: Major Western social and mobile game publisher with a broad, multi-genre portfolio. Comparable to 6Waves in mobile social-game publishing DNA, though Zynga operates at much larger scale and across more global geographies.
• AppLovin: Mobile game publishing platform and ad-tech provider with a large first- and third-party publishing business. Comparable to 6Waves in mobile game publishing but operates at substantially greater scale with additional monetization infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/6waves
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/6waves
• Facebookfacebook.com/6waves
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/309681

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 6Waves