GREE launches LWF, an open-source developer tool for Unity and HTML5 smartphone apps

TOKYO, Japan - October 18, 2012 - GREE today announced the launch of Lightweight SWF (“LWF”), a new open-source tool that GREE has developed for creating Unity and HTML5-based smartphone apps.

LWF uses an animation engine based on a unique file format to render animation data converted from Flash content playable on Unity and HTML5. GREE used LWF to develop the mobile social games Animal Days and Alien Family, which it released* this year in North America and Europe, demonstrating the tool's effectiveness in efficiently creating interactive action gameplay, rich animation, and user interface design.

GREE plans to expand the LWF tool continually with future releases. Rather than using the technology solely for its own development, GREE has chosen to make the tool available as open-source software. It is hoped that by lowering the obstacles to smartphone app development for developers and Adobe Flash artists around the world, GREE can contribute to the overall growth of quality content available to users worldwide.

In its aim of providing the best services to more users than ever, GREE will continue to work toward refining its framework for the efficient development of smart device content, while reinforcing the robust infrastructure that serves its global user base. By releasing in-house developed code as open-source code, GREE also intends to make a broader contribution to the evolution of Internet technology as a whole.