Tokyo, May 12, 2026, 18:02 (JST)
DeNA said on Tuesday that founder Tomoko Namba will return as president and chief executive officer on June 27, putting one of Japan’s best-known internet entrepreneurs back in the top job as the company tries to move faster in games, AI and other growth bets. Current president and CEO Shingo Okamura will become chairman, pending approval at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.
The timing is blunt. DeNA also reported a weaker year to March 2026, with revenue down 9.9% to 147.7 billion yen, operating profit down 35.5% to 18.69 billion yen and profit attributable to owners down 21.3% to 19.05 billion yen. Its games business fell after the early launch surge for “Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket” cooled. gamebiz〖ゲームビズ〗
That makes the reshuffle more than a title change. DeNA said its business environment was changing quickly and that it needed to raise management speed and shift its organisation and business model for the future. It said Namba would lead the transformation while Okamura would focus on relations with government, local authorities, industry groups and other stakeholders.
Namba founded DeNA in 1999 after working at McKinsey. She has also moved into Japan’s policy orbit: the Cabinet Office lists her as a private-sector member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, under the title “Founder and Executive Chairman of DeNA.” 内閣府ホームページ
Her return follows a louder public push into artificial intelligence, meaning tools that can generate code, text and other work output. In a 2025 company transcript, Namba said: “DeNA will go all in on AI,” adding that the company’s “chapter 2” had begun. フルスイング – DeNA
At DeNA’s March AI Day event, Namba described the plan in sharper terms: use AI to run and grow existing operations with roughly half the people, then shift the rest into multiple new businesses, including work with startups. That is the strategy she now has to carry from stage talk into operating numbers.
The financial base is mixed. Live streaming turned profitable, and sports and smart-city revenue rose, helped by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars’ home-game attendance, while healthcare and new-business areas remained loss-making. For the year to March 2027, DeNA forecast revenue of 154 billion yen and operating profit of 15 billion yen, and left its annual dividend undecided.
The competitive context is not narrow. Investors often watch DeNA alongside Gree Holdings and CyberAgent in Japan’s internet and games space, while larger game names such as Square Enix and Konami also compete for market attention and hit products. An IFIS report on DeNA listed those names among stocks commonly viewed with it.
DeNA shares ended regular Tokyo trading at 2,661 yen, down 0.05%, before the full earnings and management news crossed after the close. That leaves the first clean market reaction for the next session.
The risk is that founder speed does not translate into revenue. A softer games cycle, losses in newer businesses, or AI gains that remain internal rather than customer-facing could keep pressure on margins. The June 27 shareholder vote is also still a formal step.
For Namba, the job is clear enough and not small: prove that DeNA’s AI push can become products, not just efficiency, while keeping games and consumer services from slipping further into hit-driven volatility.
