Tapfun Co., Ltd.

Tapfun Co., Ltd. (Tapfun株式会社) is a Japanese technology company that develops and operates the TapFun cloud gaming platform. Founded in September 2020 and headquartered in Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, the company positions itself around a single mission: to give everyone the best possible game experience regardless of device performance, storage capacity or operating system. Its core product, TapFun, is a cloud gaming platform that streams PC games and interactive content to a wide range of devices — including smartphones, tablets and PCs — through a browser, so users do not need to download or install the game itself. The company's rationale is grounded in a well-known industry problem: modern games have grown extremely large, with smartphone titles exceeding 20 GB and PC titles frequently surpassing 100 GB, while device prices keep rising and many users continue to use older hardware. Tapfun argues that download times, storage limits, device performance, memory and battery load, heat generation and OS constraints all create barriers that keep potential players away. TapFun addresses these barriers by running game processing in the cloud and delivering the result over the web, reducing the need for high-performance local hardware and allowing older smartphones and PCs to play current titles. Beyond cloud-streamed PC games, TapFun also offers browser games built on web technologies such as HTML5 and other interactive content, combining cloud and web delivery depending on the nature of each title. The company highlights marketing value as well: users who discover a game through advertising or social media can move directly into a play experience without a download or install step, reducing drop-off and helping game companies acquire new users. Tapfun was founded in September 2020, when the business concept began, but the operating team only came together in July 2023, when the company started in earnest. In September 2023 it completed a pre-seed funding round from Cygames Capital, and in January 2025 it closed a Series A round from Rakuten Capital. The TapFun early access version launched the title "PROJECT XENO" on 23 August 2024. The company is led by CEO Kenichi Katagishi, a veteran of DMM.com and DMM GAMES, alongside COO Naohisa Ueshima and CTO Masahiro Akita. Tapfun states that it plans to release more titles, explore subscription-based offerings, and expand overseas starting with an English version, focusing first on North America and Europe before adding other languages and regions.

Tapfun Co., Ltd. was established in September 2020, when the founding team began developing the business concept for a cloud gaming platform. For roughly the first three years the company existed largely as a concept-stage venture; it was only in July 2023 that its main members gathered and the business began in earnest. The founding premise was that games had become too heavy for many users. As game content and graphics advanced, install sizes ballooned — smartphone titles over 20 GB and PC titles over 100 GB became common — while device prices rose and many users kept older phones and PCs. Download and install times, insufficient storage, device performance limits, memory and battery strain, heat, and OS restrictions all made it harder for users to casually start playing. Tapfun set out to remove those barriers by running games in the cloud and delivering them over the web. In September 2023, Tapfun completed a pre-seed funding round from Cygames Capital, giving the young company backing from within the Japanese game industry. The company then built out its platform and, on 23 August 2024, launched the title "PROJECT XENO" on the TapFun early access version — the first public demonstration of the service in operation. In January 2025, Tapfun completed a Series A funding round from Rakuten Capital, adding a second major corporate investor and providing capital for platform expansion. By that point the company had articulated a roadmap: release more titles progressively, consider subscription-based offerings, and expand overseas beginning with an English version and a focus on North America and Europe, with other languages and regions to follow. The company is led by CEO Kenichi Katagishi, born in 1977, who oversaw marketing at DMM.com from its early days, launched new businesses in DVD rental, live chat and digital content distribution, founded and led the game business, and served as Representative Director and President of DMM GAMES LLC and DMM GAMES Holding Co., Ltd. He became Representative Director of the e-commerce company Fabius Co., Ltd. in 2019 and left when his term ended in June 2023, after which he became Representative Director of Tapfun. COO Naohisa Ueshima, born in 1980, spent five years as an equity analyst covering the game, telecom and internet sectors at HSBC and Morgan Stanley Securities before moving into the game industry at GREE, then spent five and a half years at DMM GAMES as head of corporate planning and CSO, and served four years from the founding period as CFO of ZAIKO, which operates a ticketed live-streaming platform, before joining Tapfun as Director and COO in 2023. CTO Masahiro Akita, born in 1981, rose from an engineering team manager at DMM in the early internet era to CTO roles at two web ventures, and has also written programming books and technical articles; he became Tapfun's CTO in 2023. Tapfun's platform combines cloud streaming of PC games with web-technology delivery of browser games and other interactive content. The company argues this dual approach lets it match delivery method to each title's characteristics and reach users across a broad range of devices, while also giving game companies a way to convert ad- or social-media-driven interest directly into play sessions without a download step.

• Tapfun Co., Ltd. established; business concept development begins

• Main members gather and the business begins in earnest

• Completes pre-seed funding from Cygames Capital

• "PROJECT XENO" released on the TapFun early access version

• Completes Series A funding from Rakuten Capital

A cloud gaming platform that removes device, storage and OS barriers so more users can play high-end games instantly through a browser, while also serving game companies' user acquisition and marketing needs.

• TapFun

  Cloud gaming platform that streams PC games and delivers browser games and interactive content to smartphones, tablets and PCs via browser, without downloads or installs.

• PROJECT XENO

  First title released on the TapFun early access version on 23 August 2024.

1. 1Tapfun Co., Ltd. official websitecorporate.tapfun.co.jp
2. 2Tapfun Co., Ltd. company profilecorporate.tapfun.co.jp
3. 3Tapfun Co., Ltd. on Wikidatawikidata.org