Mixi ( 株式会社MIXI , Kabushiki Gaisha Mikushī , stylized as MIXI , and formerly stylized as mixi ) is an online Japanese social networking service . It was founded in 1999 and is owned by Mixi, Inc. ( TYO : 2121 ). As of September 2012, Mixi had about 14 million monthly active users , with about 8.6 million of those on smartphones. Mixi, Inc. was founded by Kenji Kasahara in 1999 as a limited liability company and became a Japanese corporation in 2000. The company changed its name to Mixi, Inc. from E-Mercury, Inc. in February 2006 to align its name with the social networking service, and was updated to MIXI, Inc. in 2022. Its headquarters are in Shibuya , Tokyo .
18-548: Mixi, Inc also published the mobile freemium game Monster Strike , the family photo-sharing app FamilyAlbum , and various other communication services. Mixi focuses on community entertainment. Users can send and receive messages, write in a diary, read and comment on others' diaries, organize and join communities, and invite their friends. Research indicates that some users, particularly young women, are more likely to use Mixi to connect in more private ways with close friends, particularly in contrast to perceptions of Facebook as
36-457: A basic product or service is provided free of charge , but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (offline) goods that expand the functionality of the free version of the software. This business model has been used in the software industry since the 1980s. A subset of this model used by the video game industry is called free-to-play . The business model has been in use for software since
54-762: A more public social network. The corporate headquarters are on the seventh floor of the Shibuya Scramble Square (渋谷スクランブルスクエア, JA ) in Shibuya , Tokyo . Mixi has enjoyed a steady growth in its user base. In 2005, the website had more than one million users, and less than a year later, it had more than five million users. The site had more than 10 million users in February 2007, and as of July 2010, more than 30 million. This number includes deleted and multiple accounts. In December 2022, Mixi launched an anime brand called MIXI_ANIME . Their first project
72-430: A variation of the model known as " open core ", in which the unsupported, feature-limited free version is also open-source software, but versions with additional features and official support are commercial software. In June 2011, PC World reported that traditional anti-virus software had started to lose market share to freemium anti-virus products. By September 2012, all but two of the 50 highest-grossing apps in
90-623: Is particularly suited to software as the cost of distribution is negligible. A freemium model is sometimes used to build a consumer base when the marginal cost of producing extra units is low. Thus little is lost by giving away free software licenses as long as significant cannibalization is avoided. Other examples include free-to-play games – video games that can be downloaded without paying. Video game publishers of free-to-play games rely on other means to generate revenue – such as optional in-game virtual items that can be purchased by players to enhance gameplay or aesthetics. Ways in which
108-400: The self-titled series . In 2011, Mixi announced that it would end "Celebrity Accounts" and replace the function with a new service, "Mixi page". In early 2008, Mixi announced a plan to revise their terms of use. The changes, which were supposed to take effect as of April 1, 2008, included a section that appeared to grant Mixi unrestricted ownership to all user generated content. In particular,
126-563: The 1980s. The term freemium to describe this model appears to have been created much later, in response to a 2006 blog post by venture capitalist Fred Wilson summarizing the model: Give your service away for free, possibly ad supported but maybe not, acquire a lot of customers very efficiently through word of mouth, referral networks, organic search marketing, etc., then offer premium-priced value-added services or an enhanced version of your service to your customer base. Jarid Lukin of Alacra , one of Wilson's portfolio companies, then suggested
144-522: The Games section of Apple's iTunes App Store supported in-app purchases , leading Wired to conclude that game developers were now required to choose between including such purchases or foregoing a very substantial revenue stream. Beginning in 2013, the digital distribution platform Steam began to add numerous free-to-play and early-access games to its library, many of which utilized freemium marketing for their in-game economies. Due to criticism that
162-512: The business model for encouraging predatory game design tactics based on an improper business model. In 2015, Nintendo released two of their own freemium games in the Pokémon series based on other standalone purchasable titles. With the title Pokémon Rumble World , Nintendo took a different approach by making it possible to complete the entire game without buying premium credits, but retaining them as an option so players can proceed through
180-424: The freemium model and prescribe a framework for implementing them into software products. The freemium model is closely related to tiered services . Notable examples include LinkedIn , Badoo , Discord , and in the form of a "soft" paywall , such as those employed by The New York Times and La Presse+. This is often in a time-limited or feature-limited version to promote a paid-for full version. The model
198-687: The game at a pace that suits them. Alacra Alacra, Inc. is a privately owned American company that provides information and workflow tools to financial institutions , corporations, and professional services firms. The company was founded as Data Downlink Corporation in 1996 by Steven Goldstein and Michael Angle, and was renamed Alacra, Inc. in June 2001. It is headquartered in New York with an office in London . Alacra received praise for going outside traditional media outlets and creating
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#1732771907196216-498: The multiplayer games falling under this category were pay-to-win in nature or were low-quality and never finished development, Valve has since added stricter rules to its early-access and free-to-play policies. Freemium games have come under criticism from players and critics. Many are labelled with the derogatory term 'pay-to-win', which criticizes freemium games for giving an advantage to players who pay more money, as opposed to those who have more skill. Criticisms also extend to
234-421: The product or service may be limited or restricted in the free version include: Some software and services make all of the features available for free for a trial period, and then at the end of that period revert to operating as a feature-limited free version (e.g. Online Armor Personal Firewall ). The user can unlock the premium features on payment of a license fee, as per the freemium model. Some businesses use
252-416: The proposed changes to Clause 18 stated: "By posting information, including diaries and the like, on this service, users grant the service the unrestricted right to use said information (whether in the form of reproduction, publication, distribution, translation, modification or the like) without compensation." However, the clause was never implemented, apparently due to user protests. The relevant portion of
270-399: The term "freemium" for this model. In 2009, Chris Anderson published the book Free , which examines the popularity of this business model. As well as for traditional proprietary software and services, it is now also often used by Web 2.0 and open source companies. In 2014, Eric Seufert published the book Freemium Economics , which attempts to deconstruct the economic principles of
288-417: The terms of use currently states that "all rights (including copyright and personal-usage rights) for content belong to the user that created it." In December 2008, Mixi discouraged the use of the site for dating, prohibiting users from "using Mixi mainly to meet with strangers of the other sex". Freemium Freemium , a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which
306-461: The way that the business model can often appear unregulated, to the point of encouraging prolific spending. Freemium games are often designed in a manner where players who are not actively using premium features are actively frustrated, delayed or require much larger investments in time required to acquire currency or upgrades. In November 2014, the animated TV series South Park aired an episode entitled " Freemium Isn't Free ". The episode satirized
324-640: Was an anime short animated by Tatsunoko Production and ZynX, directed by Masami Obari and featuring the vocal performances of Megumi Hayashibara and Kenichi Suzumura , titled Jōkaku Gattai Oshirobots . In 2008, Mixi began "Celebrity Accounts" in which celebrities who are on the social networking site are allowed to surpass the 1000-friend limit and potentially have an unlimited number of followers. Many popular figures have "Celebrity Accounts" such as actress, model, singer Anna Tsuchiya , producer and rapper Shing02 , Akihabara idol Haruko Momoi and Lupin III from
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