Waste opens Japan office to serve rapidly growing Asian gaming market
Creative agency Waste, a Keywords Studio, has today announced the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Waste Japan, as it seeks to serve the rapidly growing Japanese entertainment market, already one of the largest in the world.
Waste will join forces with the Tokyo-based Wizcorp marketing team, also part of the Keywords family, under the Waste Japan banner, bringing in-depth expertise of the gaming sector to provide a full service marketing offering, covering strategy, creative, social, community management, experiential, and TV.
Over the past 16 years, Waste has been sharpening their Fan-first approach in Europe & North America, and now the vision is to use that gaming expertise to help Japanese and other Asian publishers launch their products in the Western markets.
Waste sits within Engage – Keywords Studios’ Marketing Service Line that brings together a huge variety of experts and specialist disciplines from across Keywords into a next generation, end-to-end marketing solution, helping game companies with marketing, creative, player services, and communications.
At the end of 2021, Waste became part of the Keywords Studios family, an international technical and creative services provider to the entertainment industry.
Mike Petricevic, Co-Founder and Creative Partner, Waste, said: “Asia has always been a dream for us, and we look forward to bringing our expertise to the Japanese gaming sector, one of the largest in the world. Our ambition is to use our fan-first approach to grow our Japanese presence and service more local clients, while also helping bolster our services throughout Asia.
“Waste is in a unique position where we can take our experience launching video games in Europe and North America and use this knowledge to help support Eastern video game publishers to launch their products in the West. We’re excited to see what opportunities will develop.”
Tony Grigg, Managing Director, Engage, Keywords Studios, said: “This exciting move means we are moving ever-closer to delivering on our vision, where Engage sits at the heart of the next generation of connected companies that surround the marketing, communications, and player-centred aspects of the games industry. Bringing together Waste’s fan-first approach and Wizcorp’s production capabilities under The Waste Japan banner is a big step towards this vision.”
Christophe Briant, Account Director & Regional Lead of Waste Japan, said: “Japan is one of the world’s most significant game development hubs and has a long history in this industry. We welcome Waste into our Asian team, and are looking forward to seeing the new possibilities their presence will bring about for our local clients.”
