NJ Holdings // Game Studio // tri-Ace // Wit One // Xevious Program Star Output Ocean Strategy: Integrity & Nappy Timelessness. Consider It More!

[KR_EP]

We Make Fun!​

Striving to be the #1 creative group.​

Shared Inventory:
1st Departure: NJ Holdings // Game Studio // tri-Ace // Wit One
2nd Evolution : Sales Data & Investor Relations (IR)

NJ Holdings
9421.T​

Standard Patrol Program Online.

Malware 'tri-Ace insolvent' Detected.
Research Protocol Initiate Thread Development.
NJ Haters Gonna Hate.​

They may be strong but we'll show 'em...Ah!​

Main Party Members​

Naohiro Fukuda - President & Representative Director. King General from 09/22 - present.
Yoshiharu Gotanda - Director
Kiichiro Nakano - Director
Akihiko Miyata - Director (Outside)
Atsuko Takinishi - Director (Outside) from 09/21 - present.

Masashi Kaneshige - Full-time Corporate Auditor
Hiroyuki Tabata - Corporate Auditor (Outside)
Michio Muramoto - Corporate Auditor (Outside)​

Recap of discussion that forms the basis of this Strategy Output thread in 2nd OP. Whatever the future may bring NJ, let's use OSINT to fact check, discuss past work, review sales data & forthcoming titles. Shall provide a brief overview of NJ Holdings plus its other businesses at some point in the future but for the time being. <LET US PROCEED TO THE GAME STUDIO>

『Creation of WOW!!!』
～Promising to enrich the lives of people all over the world through the excitement of the unknown.～

Game Studio inc. (founded 1985) + The Artist formerly known as Mobile & Game Studio, Inc. (2004 - 2015), former subsidiary of Game Studio Inc., x NJ Holdings = Game Studio. Got it? Good.

Game Staff Count - 278 (06/22) 270 (09/23) across 3 locations

Seiji Iwatate - Representative Director
Naohiro Fukuda - Director
Yoshiharu Gotanda - Director
Yukihito Ayabe - Executive Officer, Management, Ōkamiden
Hirotoshi Miyamae - Executive Officer
Masanobu Endō - Advisor. Founder, Game Studio Inc. (ex-Namco, Program, Xevious , Original Character, Original Story & Game Designer, The Tower of Druaga)
Kazuo Kurosu - Corporate Advisor (ex-Namco, Main, Xevious, Software Support, The Tower of Druaga)

Game Shogi
[NSW] Kishi: Fujii Souta no Shogi Training (GameStudio) {2020.03.05}
Game Strash
[NSW/PS4/PS5/XBS/Steam] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Game Studio/Kai Graphics/Square Enix) {2023.09.28}​

Spoiler: Game Sampler

Game Stash

2018: [NSW/PS4/Steam] KUUKIYOMI: Consider It! (G-Mode)*
2019: [NSW/PS4/Steam] KUUKIYOMI 2: Consider It More! - New Era (G-Mode) *
2020: [NSW] G-MODE Archives 02: Ai to Rōdō no Hibi, G-MODE Archives 03: Beach Volley Girl Shizuku (NSFW), G-MODE Archives 07: Love Love Knuckle, G-MODE Archives 14: Mystia, G-MODE Archives 16: Beach Volley Girl Shizuku 2 - Hishō-hen (NSFW), G-MODE Archives 21: Unō Paradise, G-MODE Archives 24: Sangokushi Nendaiki DX & G-MODE Archives 25: Topolon (GameStudio/G-Mode)
2021: [NSW/PS4/Steam] KUUKIYOMI 3: Consider It More and More!! - Father to Son (G-Mode)* // G-MODE Archives 30: Sorcerian (Nihon Falcom/G-Mode) (Switch) // G-Mode Archives 36: Beach Volley Girl Shizuku 3 - Sekai Taikai-hen (G-Mode) (NSFW), G-MODE Archives 37: Moe Slot - Beach no Shizuku & G-MODE Archives 38: mystia2 (G-Mode) (Switch)
2022: [PS4/NSW] Arcade Archives: Hopping Mappy (Game Studio Inc./Bandai Namco/Hamster Corporation)

Spoiler: Game Stuff

Game Support

Kinsha - parent company of Kai Graphics, co-developer on Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai
Tachyon Works - development assistance, Kishi: Fujii Souta no Shogi Training.

Game Stewart

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. - Synduality: Echo of Ada
Bushiroad Corporation - Cardfight Vanquard Zero (Bushimo/Game Studio) (iOS/Android)
G-Mode - Worked on flip-phone games reissued as part of G-MODE Archives series. *plus the original flip-phone versions of KUUKIYOMI 1-3*
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. - Figureheads, Dragon Quest of the Stars & Infinity Strash Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai.

Game Stolen

[iOS/Android] takt op. 運命は真紅き旋律の街を <RPG> (DENA/Bandai Namco) aka 'take op. Destiny is the City of Crimson Melody',
'GameStudio is no longer involved in the development'. - Soichi Nozawa, head of Investor Relations (IR) at NJ Holdings (see post here).

Game Stuffed

[PC/PS4] Figureheads (PC/PS4) (Game Studio/Square Enix) 2016 - 2018
[iOS/Android] Dragon Quest of the Stars (Game Studio/Square Enix) 2019 - 2020

Game Stomped

[iOS/Android] The Legend of Dachimen G (Studio Rex Co./Game Studio) 2023 - 2023 [Studio Rex Co. is a subsidiary of Drecom Co., Ltd

Spoiler: Game Store

Game Sound

2018: Mitsunori Ikeda, Jun Fukuda, Jun Sasaki, ☆Taku Takahashi, Hiroto Saitoh, Emyli - Figureheads Original Soundtrack (Square Enix Music) Digital Download

tri-Ace

Any sufficiently advanced tri-Ace game is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke

three aces

Yoshiharu Gotanda - Co-Founder, CEO, Director, Lead R&D Programmer
Masaki Norimoto - Co-Founder, Director, Game Design Supervisor
Joe Asanuma - Co-Founder, Director - Star Ocean (1996)

tri-Ace - 182 staff at 1 location (30/09/22) as per tri-Ace Job Listings on MyNavi (09/12/22).
Covenant of the Plume

Motoi Sakuraba - Composer, Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile series, Infinite Undiscovery, Beyond the Labyrinth, Phantasy Star Nova & Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky.
Hiroya Hatsushiba - Field Program, Star Ocean, Sound & Scenario Programmer, Star Ocean: The Second Story, established tri-Crescendo Inc., in 1999.
Koh Yoshinari & You Yoshinari - Character Designer, Valkyrie Profile.
Akira Yasuda (akiman) - Character Designer, Star Ocean Integrity & Faithlessness, Star Ocean Anamnesis & Star Ocean The Divine Force (Laeticia | akiman - Original Art Piece Timelapse).

Spoiler: GemDrops Inc.

GemDrops Inc.

Yūichirō Kitao (1999 - 2013) - Battle System Programmers (Valkyrie Profile), Battle Programmer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time & Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) & Lead Programmer (Resonance of Fate). Established the developer & publisher, Gemdrops Inc., in 2013, serves as President & Founder, he is currently working as Producer & Director for Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Yukinori Masuda - (1999 - ????) Map Graphics (Valkyrie Profile), Movie Designer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time), FMV (Radiata Stories, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Resonance of Fate), FMV Art Director (Infinite Undiscovery). Art Director on Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky before joining Gemdrops at unknown date, currently Art Director on Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Kumiko Yoshioka - Character Graphics (Valkyrie Profile), Animation Designers (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time) & 3D-Animation Artists (Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness)

Hideo Yoshikawa - AI programmers (Infinite Undiscovery)

Tomoyuki Kurino - Battle Programmers (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria), Programming (World Map and UI) on Resonance of Fate.

Masahiro Shizuya - Production Assistants (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria), Production Management (Resonance of Fate)

Yasuhiro Kurimoto - Special Thanks (Infinite Undiscovery)

Gemdrops are credited with porting Star Ocean: The Second Evolution from PSP to PS3/PS4/PSVita - 'Our responsibilities: Overall development (ported from the PSP version)' Gemdrops (scroll down) via DeepL.

Freelance/Contract

Yukihiro Kajimoto - Character Designer (Infinite Undiscovery), User Interface Designers (Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness), character designer on Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Hitoshi Okamoto (Tempest Studio) - Sound Designers (Infinite Undiscovery), Sound Composers (Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume), Sound Design (Resonance of Fate), Sound Designer (Star Ocean: The Last Hope)

Special Thanks

Tetsuo Kashiwagi - Event Tool Programmer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time), Lead Framework Programmer (Infinite Undiscovery)

Spoiler: The Last Hero

Infinite Undiscovery

Takayuki Suguro - Director, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Resonance of Fate & Beyond the Labyrinth (current position and/or whereabouts unknown). lol nope (see post here)

1995 - 2015 Exist Archive: The Other Side of the tri-Ace Acquisition

The bullet hell RPG is about to being​

2015: [PS4/PSV] Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky (Spike Chunsoft/Aksys Games)
2016: [PS3/PS4] Star Ocean: Integrity & Faithlessness (Square Enix)
2017: [PS4/Steam] Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 4K & Full HD Remaster (Square Enix)
2018: [PS4/Steam] Resonance of Fate 4K / HD Edition (tri-Ace)
2019: --
2020: --
2021: --

New Event Scene​

[PS4/PS5/XB1/XBS/Steam] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (tri-Ace/Square Enix) {2022.10.27} // [PS4/PS5] Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (tri-Ace/virtuos/Square Enix) {2022.12.22}​

Spoiler: Beyond the License Period

End of Eternity

Heaven × Inferno (tri-Ace/NTT Docomo) 2016 - 2017
Star Ocean: Anamnesis (tri-Ace/Square Enix) 2016 - 2021
Mist Gears (Alim/tri-Ace/Shueisha) 2018 - 2019
Tales of Crestoria (KLabGames/tri-Ace/Bandai Namco Entertainment) 2020 - 2021
Brave to the Grave (fingger) 2022 - 2023

<PATTERN DETECTED>

Support Party​

tri-Crescendo Inc., -sound engineering and compositions, Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria.

Till the End of Time​

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. - Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile series. Radiata Stories & Infinite Undiscovery

Another Time Maybe​

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. - Tales of Crestoria
KLab Inc. - Tales of Crestoria
Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. - Frontier Gate, Beyond the Labyrinth & Frontier Gate Boost+
Nintendo / Monolith - tri-Ace Inc. provided Graphics Support on Xenoblade Chronicles 2
SEGA Games Co., Ltd. - Resonance of Fate, Phantasy Star Nova
Spike Chunsoft - Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky

The Research and Development Department in tri-Ace Inc.

Don't consort with foreigners? 'Even if you are a non-Japanese-speaker, it doesn't matter.' GOAT GOTANDA.​

The Sound Story

Spike Chunsoft​

Motoi Sakuraba - Exist Archive The Other Side of the Sky Original Soundtrack <2xCD> {2016.04.22} OST available in Japan from Spike Chunsoft​

Square Enix Music​

INFINITE UNDISCOVERY Original Soundtrack // LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Soundtrack (SQEM GB & NA) // STAR OCEAN First Departure Original Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN Second Evolution Original Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN 4 -THE LAST HOPE- Original Soundtrack // VALKYRIE PROFILE: COVENANT OF THE PLUME ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK​

STAR OCEAN 5 -Integrity & Faithlessness- Original Soundtrack <4xCD / Digital Distribution> {2016.04.27} SQEM JPN / NA
Drama CD STAR OCEAN 5 -Integrity & Faithlessness- <2xCD> {2016.05.25} SQEM JPN
Motoi Sakuraba Band Arrangement Album: Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile <CD> {2016.06.08} SQEM JPN​

STAR OCEAN Live Collection 2018 <2xCD> {2018.05.20} SQEM JPN​

STAR OCEAN: ANAMNESIS Original Soundtrack <2xCD> {2019.03.13} SQEM JPN​

Star Ocean 6: The Divine Force Original Soundtrack <4xCD / 5xCD / Digital Distribution> {2022.11.02} SQEM JPN, EU & NA​

Square Enix Music Channel
To celebrate the release of "Star Ocean The Divine Force," the music from "Star Ocean" series (1-5) is now available for download & streaming!​

STAR OCEAN Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK // STAR OCEAN First Departure Original Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN Second Evolution Original Soundtrack
STAR OCEAN 3 Till the End of Time vol.1 Original Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN 3 Till the End of Time vol.2 Original Soundtrack
STAR OCEAN 4 -THE LAST HOPE- Original Soundtrack // STAR OCEAN 5 -Integrity & Faithlessness- Original Soundtrack​

Wave Master Inc.​

Motoi Sakuraba - Phantasy Star Nova Original Soundtrack <3xCD> {2015.01.28}​

Wit One Inc. // Wit One Okinawa Inc.
Which one? = WitOne!​

Spoiler: Wit Ness the Fitness

Wit President

Fujiwara Tomohiro, President

Wit Staff
304 (June 30, 2022)

Wit Okinawa Represent

Norimasa Hirano, President & Representative Director

Wit Okinawa Staff
109 (May 1, 2023) - up 3 from March 2023 (99 as of January 2024)

Wit Stuff

Localisation, physical board games (OSHIKATSU: KIRAKIRA LIVE! - May 2, 2023, see Game Market entry), eSports, game localisation, support & various Which one? = Wit One thingies.

​

2021: [NSW/Steam] Pixel Game Maker Series Remote Bomber (Wit One/Gotcha Gotcha Games)*
2022: --

*Gotcha Gotcha Games is the developer of the RPG Maker franchise, publisher of the Pixel Game Maker series & part of Kadokawa Corporation (see Output Strategy thread here).

 

[KR_EP]

NJ Holdings
9421.T​

Investor Relations (IR) (ENG)
Financial Year (FY)
Jul. 20XX - Jun. 20XX​

Based InstallBase
WE MAKE FUN FINANCIAL RESULT THREADS!
FY6/23
July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023​

NJ Holdings (they own tri-Ace y'know) FY6/23 presented by Sōta Fujii. Net Sales 10,131, Operating Profit -239, Game Business +43 (million yen)​

FY6/24
July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024​

NJ Holdings (they own tri-Ace y'know) Q1 FY6/24 presented by Sōta Fujii. Net Sales 2,767. Operating Profit +148. Game Business +210 (million yen)
NJ Holdings (they own tri-Ace y'know) 1H FY6/24 presented by Sōta Fujii. Net Sales 5,170. Operating Profit +234. Game Business +351 (million yen)
NJ Holdings (they own tri-Ace y'know) 9M FY/24 presented by Sōta Fujii. Operating Profit +237. Game Business: +380 (million yen) 2nd Downward Revision
NJ Holdings (they own tri-Ace y'know) FY 6/24 presented by Sōta Fujii. Operating Profit +101. Game Business: +340 (million yen). Blue Monster appears!​

Game Sales Data​

Spoiler: PS Store Sales

US/CANADA​

PS Store Sales: Jul 2015 (Jul 01 - Jul 31)
12./00. [PS3] Resonance of Fate <RPG> (SEGA) {2010.03.16}

PS Store Sales: Dec 2017 (Dec 01 - Dec 31)
PS Classics
[PS4] 05./00. Star Ocean Till The End Of Time <RPG> (Square Enix) {2017.05.23}

PS Store Sales: Mar 2018 (Mar 01 - Mar 31)
PS Classics
[PS4] 05./00. Star Ocean Till The End Of Time <RPG> (Square Enix) {2017.05.23}

PS Store Sales: Oct 2022 (Oct 01 - Oct 31)
13./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27}

JAPAN​

PS Store Sales: Oct 2022 (Oct 01 - Oct 31)
02./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)
04./00. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

PS Store Sales: Nov 2022 (Nov 01 - Nov 30)
09./02. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)
09./04. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

PS Store Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 1 - 2022 Dec 31)
17./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

PS Store Sales: Sep 2023 (Sep 01 - Sep 30)
15./00. [PS5] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800)

Thanks to @Chris1964 for the sales data & formatting.

Spoiler: CESA 2023 White Paper

CESA 2023 White Paper​

Past International Million Shipment Series(Domestic+Overseas):
Star Ocean - 6.2m
Valkyrie Profile - 2.6m
Past Domestic million shipment series:
Star Ocean - 3.2m
Valkyrie Profile - 1.6m
Star Ocean 6.2 - 3.2 = 3 million internationally, Valkyrie Profile 2.6 - 1.6 = a mere 1 million - thanks to @CeroG1 for providing the latest sales numbers here.

Spoiler: NJ History

Background Context​

Recap of discussion that forms the basis of this Strategy Output thread. Whatever the future may bring, let's use OSINT to fact check, discuss past work, sales data & forthcoming titles.

Catching up on this discussion, Tri-Ace co-founder Yoshiharu Gotanda is on the Board of Directors of parent company NJ Holdings so they're in a senior position to know & help decide the future of the company. To your above point, Tri-Ace staff already work on the same floor as Game Studio in one of its three locations. To recap, Tri-Ace has 179 staff (09/2021)* with four job listings under the Mynavi employment tab while Game Studio has 278 staff (06/2022) with active recuit page & job listings too. Already mentioned but to round up, here's the current PC/console line up:

10/06/23 edit - image borked, see OP for latest information​

Going to NJ Holdings' briefing materials, it looks like they had hoped or expected Star Ocean 6 to be released in FY2022. Via DeepL translation:

Direct link to the materials: https://www.njhd.jp/files/ir/pdf/briefing20220810.pdf

*Did you find a more recent source that mentions 184 staff? Do not understand Japanese nor am I qualified to read financial reports so going through the Investor Relations (IR) pages is difficult for me, so I appreciate insight from more informed users. Speaking of sources, doesn't Gamebiz post any in its articles? Unable to find where those figures & charts by Tri-Ace & Game Studio are from as the briefing quoted above does show overall losses for the financial year, but where are specific breakdowns for each studio, or for that matter this discussion of insolvency coming from? Aren't NJ Holdings projecting a (small) operating profit for the next financial year?
Sources: Reuters / Google Finance / Market Cap Earnings 2009-2022
Click to expand...

Since then, noticed the following press release after the extraordinary losses from the NJ Holdings IR section (21/10/22). However note how they are projecting a return to profitability for the current fiscal year. When Tri-Ace parent company, NJ Holdings has its Q1 2023 earnings press release 11/11/22 (Reuters) maybe they'll also comment on the overall health of the company?

Company Name: NJ Holdings, Inc. Representative: Naohiro Fukuda, President and Representative Director
Notice of Continuation of Voluntary Return of a Portion of Executive Compensation The Company hereby announces the continuation of the voluntary return of a portion of executive compensation as follows. Details are as follows
Voluntary Return of a Portion of Executive Compensation
As announced in the "Notice Concerning Revision of Earnings Forecasts, Recording of Extraordinary Losses, and Voluntary Return of a Portion of Directors' Remuneration" dated February 10, 2022, the Company has voluntarily returned a portion of directors' remuneration.
As described in the "Notice Concerning Revision of Earnings Forecasts, Recording of Extraordinary Losses, and Voluntary Return of a Portion of Directors' Compensation" released on February 10, 2022, we have voluntarily returned a portion of directors' compensation in order to clarify management responsibility, taking seriously our performance for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.
In the current fiscal year, as announced in the "Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022 (Japanese GAAP)" dated August 10, 2022, we expect to return to profitability in the consolidated financial results for the full fiscal year. However, as stated in "1. Summary of Business Results (4) Future Outlook" of the same financial results, the Company has decided to continue the voluntary return.
To all of you
(STANDARD Code: 9421) Position and Name Souichi Nozawa, General Manager, Corporate Planning Dept.
Inquiries
Phone: +81-3-5418-8128
Details of the return of remuneration
President and Representative Director 20% of monthly remuneration to be returned
Period of return of remuneration Three months from October 2022 to December 2022

NJ Holdings:
Q1 2023 Briefing (01/07/22 - 30/09/22)
Financial Statement
Securities Report
SecuritiesWS

Game Segment reported a very small profit (2 million yen) to stem the heavy bleeding, while its Mobile Business posted a 19 million yen loss, contributing towards losses of 86 million yen for the quarter. Have used DeepL Translate but if people who understand Japanese & financial reports have more insight, corrections of any mistakes on my part, will be interested to know what you find. Have tried sending them an email to its IR section requesting additional IR details in English. Financial year for the company ends 30th June 2023, forecasting an operating profit of 160 million yen. (Q1 2023 Briefing, page 18).

'In this business environment, the Company's game business has been working to improve the utilization ratio of its development staff by focusing on acquiring new projects while strengthening its management structure and promoting the appointment of potential leaders. In this business environment, in the game business, the Company focused on improving the utilization ratio of development personnel by strengthening the management system, promoting the appointment of leadership candidates, and focusing on acquiring new projects. In the mobile business, the carrier store division expanded its service offerings, while the retail store division pursued a strategy of opening new stores with an emphasis on community-based operations.

As a result, the consolidated business results for the first quarter of the current fiscal year are as follows. Net sales in the game business are on a recovery trend, although not up to the level of the same period of the previous year, as a result of careful management of the progress of existing projects and efforts to win orders for new projects with top priority on improving utilization ratio. In the mobile phone business, sales volume fell short of the plan as the number of customers continued to decline and customers showed a wait-and-see attitude toward new contracts and a slowdown in replacement purchases due to the high prices of new models. As a result, net sales decreased 591 million yen (-19.7%) year on year to 2,415 million yen. Operating income (loss) and ordinary income (loss) in the game business showed improvement in the development field due to the receipt of new orders, albeit on a small scale.

In the operation support field, orders for support services for newly released titles are progressing steadily, and profits are stable. In the mobile phone business, we worked to increase profit per customer not only by promoting price competitiveness, but also by proposing more convenient and reliable use of smartphones, and in the sales agent division, we worked to strengthen after-sales service and promote community-based services. However, these efforts were not enough to make up for the shortfall in the sales plan. As a result, the Company posted an operating loss of 86 million yen (operating income of 35 million yen in the same period of the previous year) and ordinary loss of 89 million yen (ordinary income of 33 million yen in the same period of the previous year). Net loss attributable to owners of the parent amounted to 88 million yen, compared with net income attributable to owners of the parent of 13 million yen in the same period of the previous fiscal year.'

Source: NJ Holdings Q1 2023 Financial Statement, page 2.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

No mention of initial sales, suspect that's for Square Enix to publish/promote sales milestones if it chooses to do so. NJ Holdings has 3 PC/console games in development as of 11th November (down one since August). Presuming the release of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is no longer included, it means either Tri-Ace or Game Studio have, as @Celestial mentioned last time we discussed NJ Holdings, an unannounced project. Couple more smartphone games in development since August, making three total.

Enjoyment of My Work (tri-ace job recruitment video, early 2023)
​

Spoiler: Enjoyment of Our Work.

[NSW/Steam] 50 Pinch Barrage!! <ACT> (KaeruPanda Inc./Game Studio Inc.) {2024.05.22} NSW {2024.08.01} Steam
First released in 2014 to much acclaim, "50 Pinch Barrage!!" is back and better than ever!
​

Nintendo Switch eShop Charts: Week 21, 2024 (May 13 - May 26, 2024) [various regions]

JP Switch eShop Chart for the period of May 13 - May 26, 2024
248./00. 50 Pinch Barrage!! {2024-05-23} (JPY 580.0) (is 14% off)

US eShop Chart for the period of May 13 - May 26, 2024 (also covers )
778./00. 50 Pinch Barrage!! {2024-05-22} (USD 4.99) (is 10% off)

Nintendo Switch eShop Charts: Week 22, 2024 (May 20 - Jun 02, 2024) [various regions]

JP Switch eShop Chart for the period of May 20 - Jun 02, 2024
170./248. 50 Pinch Barrage!! {2024-05-23} (JPY 580.0) (is 14% off)

US Switch eShop Chart for the period of May 20 - Jun 02, 2024 (also covers )
630./778. 50 Pinch Barrage!! {2024-05-22} (USD 4.99) (is 10% off)

50 Pinch Barrage!! could only muster a mere 3 user reviews with a peak of 7 concurrent users (Steam Database).

Thanks to @Pooroomoo & @ktpoison for their tireless eShop sleuthing work.​

​

When the Dinner Dance, Nappy Time & Raisin Gifs are already dead.

The Divine Farce​

Spoiler: To Do List or Not to Do List

NJ Holdings - details on key staff, financial situation, mergers, acquisitions, investments & divestments, including Wit One developer / localisation details.
Game Studio - About section has 株式会社スタジオレックス (DeepL translation: Studio Rex Co./Studio Rex Corporation/Studio Rex Inc.) anyone able help to confirm studio name?
Following mentioned on the Game Studio page, confirm details of contract work. Aiming Corporation / Konami Digital Entertainment Co. / SEGA Corporation / DeNA Inc. & Nintendo.
tri-Ace - additional staff details, interviews & useful links, tri-Ace company About section mentions ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO., LTD. - listed on Wikipedia as publisher Resonance of Fate 4K/HD Edition in Japan (tbc), COLOPL, Inc. & GREE, Inc., confirm any contract work. If you made it this far, then you've earnt the right to know this entire Output Strategy thread exists inside a video game.

 

[Uniomni]

Absolutely scattershot op aside, as the resident Tri-Ace superstan I thank you for this thread.

Idk if it's too early for the conclusion of SO6 success/failure pegging to be decided but I was happy to see that for many, even if it wasn't the best jrpg there was much to enjoy with SO6, with some even feeling it was the best jrpg of the year.

Hopefully this is enough to put a little gleam back on Tri-Ace's reputation, but I do sincerely still want them to be sold to/acquired by a platform holder.

Them with the backing of a first party would be something to see, as many of the biggest issues with SO6 are the same ones they've dealt with for more than a decade.

Ugly graphics, poor voices and rushed to the end development.

Plus Star Ocean isn't irreplaceable as an ip.

Take what works, shine it and rebuild what doesn't.

Can become a year end notable jrpg studio under the right circumstances, I think.

 

[KR_EP]

Absolutely scattershot op aside, as the resident Tri-Ace superstan I thank you for this thread.

Oh, did I overdo it? / Good morning, sir.​

Idk if it's too early for the conclusion of SO6 success/failure pegging to be decided but I was happy to see that for many, even if it wasn't the best jrpg there was much to enjoy with SO6, with some even feeling it was the best jrpg of the year.

I'm with you.​

Hopefully this is enough to put a little gleam back on Tri-Ace's reputation, but I do sincerely still want them to be sold to/acquired by a platform holder.

Them with the backing of a first party would be something to see, as many of the biggest issues with SO6 are the same ones they've dealt with for more than a decade.

Ugly graphics, poor voices and rushed to the end development.

Plus Star Ocean isn't irreplaceable as an ip.

Take what works, shine it and rebuild what doesn't.

Can become a year end notable jrpg studio under the right circumstances, I think.

Negative Coffin Pilot. We Proceed with the Mission as Planned. NJ Holdings are the parent company, a self-proclaimed tri-Ace superstan ought to research, question rumours & speculation than join the corporate acquisition cult especially first party ones. There's no reason to sell, NJ Holdings has 6 games in development as of November. Game Studio with 3 announced projects, a couple awesome looking console/PC games due next year plus a mobile game currently in closed beta. Always important to remind ourselves, tri-Ace is a contract developer, Square Enix owns the Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile IPs & makes the final decision to sign off on all creative & commercial decisions for any tri-Ace developed title it published.
To recap our Mission Briefing:​

Number of projects currently under development*1

Package type *2 *3 (Main platforms: Dedicated machines, PCs):
3 (down 1 compared to August 10, 2022)

Smartphone type *2 *4 (Main platforms: Smartphone, PC):
3 (up 2 compared to August 10,2022)

*1 - This is the number of titles under development as of November 11, 2012, and does not indicate the number of titles that will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.
*2 - Titles with multi-platform support are counted as one title. Titles with a development team of 15 or more developers are mainly counted.
*3 - Downloadable titles are also categorised as packaged titles.
*4 - Smartphone-type titles include free-to-play titles.

Source: NJ Holdings Q1 Financial Briefing (01/07/22 - 30/09/22), page 13 (DeepL Translation)

[PS5/Steam/XBS] Synduality <ACT> (Game Studio/Bandai Namco Entertainment) {2023.XX.XX} (Game Overview)
[PS4/PS5/Steam/Switch] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Game Studio/Kai Graphics/Square Enix) {2023.XX.XX} (Trailer / Game Overview)
[iOS/Android] takt op. 運命は真紅き旋律の街を <RPG> (Game Studio/DENA) aka 'take op. Destiny is the City of Crimson Melody', closed beta 15/12/2022 - 28/12/2022 (Android).

Will scan for more AO Crystals in the New Year to update OPs & include findings ahead of NJ Holdings' Q2 financial report due 08/02/23. What matters right now is the latest edition of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth out today. Provided there's no issues with it, between the PS4/PS5 & mobile versions, game is readily available once more, ripe for replay & rediscovery. Coffin Pilot Out.

[PS4/PS5] Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth <RPG> (tri-Ace*/Square Enix) {2022.12.22}

*1 - not part of the above 6, awaiting confirmation of port/emulation credits.

 

[Uniomni]

Oh, did I overdo it? / Good morning, sir.

I'm with you.

Negative Coffin Pilot. We Proceed with the Mission as Planned. NJ Holdings are the parent company, a self-proclaimed tri-Ace superstan ought to research, question rumours & speculation than join the corporate acquisition cult especially first party ones. There's no reason to sell, NJ Holdings has 6 games in development as of November. Game Studio with 3 announced projects, a couple awesome looking console/PC games due next year plus a mobile game currently in closed beta. Always important to remind ourselves, tri-Ace is a contract developer, Square Enix owns the Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile IPs & makes the final decision to sign off on all creative & commercial decisions for any tri-Ace developed title it published. To recap our Mission Briefing:

Will scan for more AO Crystals in the New Year to update OPs & include findings ahead of NJ Holdings' Q2 financial report due 08/02/23. What matters right now is the latest edition of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth out today. Provided there's no issues with it, between the PS4/PS5 & mobile versions, game is readily available once more, ripe for replay & rediscovery. Coffin Pilot Out.

Lmao, it's like an ai made an account but I dig it.

I understand that SE owns both Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile as ips, I just think Tri-Ace as a studio would do better if one of the major platforms owned them.

Would give them access to much better technology and development windows vs the current setup.

Especially since they were facing insolvency as of a couple months ago.

If they could retain their current situation and thrive that'd be my first choice but I'm not seeing it.

 

[Celestial]

Really great thread, KR_EP! Some super useful information and sources

No mention of initial sales, suspect that's for Square Enix to publish/promote sales milestones if it chooses to do so. NJ Holdings has 3 PC/console games in development as of 11th November (down one since August). Presuming the release of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is no longer included, it means either Tri-Ace or Game Studio have, as @Celestial mentioned last time we discussed NJ Holdings, an unannounced project. Couple more smartphone games in development since August, making three total.

I wonder if it is possible to see the current employee count of tri-ace? If they have not massively downscaled and reduced their workforce since releasing Star Ocean 6, it does mean they've managed to land a new contract.

I also wonder if that "3" number of PC/Consoles games includes outsourcing work or actual full projects that they are working on?

Recently, tri-ace's Muikatoge (who came over from Konami during the PS3 era) stated that he'd be interested in making a Valkyrie Profile 3. Since he's stating this publicly, I wonder if it's a hint at Square Enix in case they are interested in funding a new project from tri-ace.

EDIT: Hmm, going through the latest report, seems like the amount of employees across NJ Holdings remain the same compared last FY?

 

[jacsoncr]

Thanks for all that information, I didn't know that these studios existed beyond tri-ace

 

[KR_EP]

Thanks for all that information, I didn't know that these studios existed beyond tri-ace

Appreciate the response, wanted to highlight the company as a whole to put any discussion about the future of tri-Ace into proper context & the history of Game Studio is very interesting. Can see if happening again in the current Media Create thread about Mages when its parent company, Colopl even has an English language Investor Relations (IR) page to clear things up.
But enough of that, here's some useful background detail on Game Studio & Masanobu Endō for those interested (can also search the shmuplations archives for tri-Ace interviews too).

—Masanobu Endō was your senior by one year at Namco, but have you ever thought about striking out and creating your own independent game company like he did?​

Yoshihiro Kishimoto - Famista Baseball (RBI Baseball):
I’m not really inclined to do that, personally. In a big company like Namco, if the game you develop ends up being a failure, it’s not the end of the company. So in the end I’m just happiest being able to make the games I want to make here. One of my programming colleagues at Namco was Satoshi Naito. He created the Family Circuit games (among others), and I considered him a good rival for me. We were always competing to see who got the bigger bonus that year. (laughs) Since he jumped over to Endo’s company, though, I’m afraid I don’t have a rival like that anymore at Namco.

Game Studio – Wizardry Gaiden I​

Norihiro Sekizuka – An “outsider” who originally worked at a steel company. Masanobu Endo was his high school classmate. When asked why he became a game designer, he answered, “Because there was no one else doing it, I guess…?”

—How were you involved in the creation of the Famicom port of Wizardry?​

Sekizuka: I had almost no involvement with Wizardry. I only did debugging for Wizardry II, and for III, we wanted to do a significant remix of the PC version with regard to stats and so forth, so I worked as a lead designer on that one.

—What are some of the things you pay particular attention to when designing a Wizardry game?​

Sekizuka: Part of Wizardry’s special appeal, I think, is that it should feel like there’s a capricious god living inside the cartridge. That’s how I want it to feel. If the player senses the hand of the developer too much, I think it’s off-putting.

—What was your concept for the newest Wizardry Gaiden, for the Game Boy?​

Sekizuka: Being the Game Boy, I had originally aimed for it to be something that you could pick up and play easily… but once again it ended up being kind of hardcore-oriented. I’m sorry. (laughs) The beginning of the game should be welcoming for newcomers, but I’m afraid my affection for this series was too strong, and the latter half is a masochistic treat sure to delight any hardcore Wizardry fan. (laughs)

Source: I made that! - 1991 Developer Interviews.

You can also read a great discussion between Masanobu Endō & Kenji Terada (FFII) from 1988 & his recollections of working on Xevious as well (shmuplations is a fantastic resource).

Really great thread, KR_EP! Some super useful information and sources

I wonder if it is possible to see the current employee count of tri-ace? If they have not massively downscaled and reduced their workforce since releasing Star Ocean 6, it does mean they've managed to land a new contract.

I also wonder if that "3" number of PC/Consoles games includes outsourcing work or actual full projects that they are working on?

Recently, tri-ace's Muikatoge (who came over from Konami during the PS3 era) stated that he'd be interested in making a Valkyrie Profile 3. Since he's stating this publicly, I wonder if it's a hint at Square Enix in case they are interested in funding a new project from tri-ace.

EDIT: Hmm, going through the latest report, seems like the amount of employees across NJ Holdings remain the same compared last FY?

Shadow developer is one possibility, with the company providing updates for the number of games in development, it may be possible to work out such projects by going through its quarterly financial reports. However it wouldn't tell us if the game was handled by Game Studio or tri-Ace. With regards to a potential Valkyrie Profile 3, could see it happening now. But at some point I think NJ Holdings ought to position itself to self-publish the majority of its games so that its not as heavily reliant on contract work, especially with how cutthroat mobile gaming has become. Might even consider raising seed money for an original jrpg through crowd-funding. Anyway hopefully we'll know more with the Q2 financial report due 08/02/23. (edit: fixed Kenji Terada link)

 

[jacsoncr]

Appreciate the response, wanted to highlight the company as a whole to put any discussion about the future of tri-Ace into proper context & the history of Game Studio is very interesting. Can see if happening again in the current Media Create thread about Mages when its parent company, Colopl even has an English language Investor Relations (IR) page to clear things up.
But enough of that, here's some useful background detail on Game Studio & Masanobu Endō for those interested (can also search the shmuplations archives for tri-Ace interviews too).

Thanks again, I think I'll spend my holidays reading the interviews

 

[fiendcode]

I forgot Game Studio used to do all the Wizardry FC/GB/SFC/GBC games for Enterbrain. Super stars.

 

[KR_EP]

Stand by NJ Holdings! Before we get onto the less serious business of financial reports & what have you, lets all vote in the poll before taking a look at the NJ Latest plus the animated version of Synduality. Due later this year, premier on TV Tokyo & other channels in Japan, Disney+ worldwide streaming rights. Bandai Namco Filmwoks be like, I think I made a huge mistake.

Anime News Network article (full disclosure, Bandai Namco has a minority stake in ANN).
News // Character // Key Art + Cast Imagery (Human or AI known as Magus).

GAME STUDIO:
13/02/23 live broadcast, update on smartphone game (overview via Gematsu as a reminder) Takt OP is now due for launch, June 2023 (no specific confirmation Game Studio are still involved with development beyond its 2021 announcement, latest news stories have a generic listing of 'game partners'). No update on its two console/PC games since last September.

tri-Ace:
Hiring on main page - no mention of what its currently working on (NJ Holdings lists 3 console/PC & 2 smartphone games as of February 12th), further detail on the nature of its latest job listings note an r&d programmer as well. Post launch support mentioned in the financial reports. Star Ocean The Divine Force patches? Dare tri-Ace faithful wave their pom-poms, lead our party in the hope & infinite dreams of an expansion pack? LET'S TRI-ACE it into existence Tri-ace Official Dance Team is here to save our broken down tri-Ace (mobile) & Game Studio.

Let's play / Let's out / Be my jelly bean tonight. / You gotta be crazy. You got-ta be crazy but I'm right. Be my jelly bean tonight.​

Tri-Ace Ultra High Performance Comfort Tire Carrera Promotion Video.

The rhythmical performance of the T☆A Girls brings energy and excitement to everyone.
The video brings the fun of driving to you.

Why yes, they really are called the『T☆A Girls』- Produce by CHEER CREATION & if you really must know CHEERCREATION makes your SMILE & HAPPINESS thanks to founder & ex-Raiderette Chiko (Book: Cheerleaders' Bible (Tokyo Shoseki) so it must be true). Think its safe to say that mission accomplished, TRI-ACE Tires can handle that side of things while tri-Ace give Skeezy Star Ocean a much needed nappy time rest & get the Yoshinari Bros. on the phone for some more classy high fantasy, with a narrative scripted by the founders with a suitably heavy handed fatalistic tome, with or without Square Enix if they aren't willing to let Valkyrie Profile out to play. But if you ever doubt the series will return...discover the cheer of cheerleading:

Official cheerleaders cheer on TRI-ACE.
T☆A Girls. This is the making-of movie of T☆A Girls, which closely follows them on the set of Carrera's debut advertisement and graphic shoot.

In the studio shoot, the footprints of the "T☆A Girls" echo in the quiet studio from afar.
The active girls in their TRI-ACE costumes crank it up with a cheerful greeting!

The girls instantly change the atmosphere of the scene, where did the character of tension go?

During the location shooting, the filmmakers felt as if they were being empowered by the girls' powerful dancing, smiles, and cheerful shouts....

They deliver invisible power with their performances and shouts.
TRI-ACE official cheerleaders T☆A Girls ♪

Let's Tri-Ace!

You tell 'em! Crowdfunding is an option to avoid Exist Archive Enemy Type A/B/C rinse & repeat, if the parent company is only forecasting 15 million yen profits then its worth a look to bolster finances. Certainly works for Edia with its Telenet Revive projects raising 16 million a Cosmic Fantasy pop. How about a retro jrpg project, get the old three aces band back together with a spiritual successor to Tales of Phantasia and/or the original Star Ocean on Super Famicom? Could even use RPG Maker to proto-type & develop 2D pixel goodness...

Wit One:
Turns out there's a new challenger at NJ Holdings, spotted whilst looking up the RPG Maker 2023 Franchise Sale (until 20th February) by Kadokawa Corporation subsidiary Gotcha Gotcha Games.

2021: [SWI/PC] Pixel Game Maker Series Remote Bomber (Wit One/Gotcha Gotcha Games)*
*Gotcha Gotcha Games is the developer of the RPG Maker franchise, publisher of the Pixel Game Maker series & part of Kadokawa Corporation (see Output Strategy thread here).

December 19th 2022: 1H page 16, Wit One localised Labyrinth The War on Terror for smartphones in Japan (digital boardgames based on license from GMT Games). Set to handling localisation of more smartphone titles by Playdek - no mention of PC versions. See the Playdek news entry from the February 21, 2020 for background detail on the (controversial?) game.

Ok, so about that NJ Holdings (10/02/23) FY Ending 30th June 2023. The good news is that its Investor Relations (IR) page now provides English Language Supplementary Material for the current Financial Year ending 30th June 2023. The bad news is a result of losses in game development there has been a significant downward revision of its annual forecast in Q1.

First Quarter Financial Results - 1st July 2022 - 30th September 2022
Second Quarter & First Half Financial Results - 1st October 2022 - 31st December 2022 & 1st July 2022 - 31st September 2022.

The revised FY2023 forecast by NJ Holdings as a result of losses in game development & the lack of new major contracts is the company is now projecting a small profit (15 million yen).

‘We have revised our full-year earnings forecasts as follows in the "Notice of Revision of Earnings Forecasts" dated February 10, 2202.

In the game business, results in the development field have been below projections. However, profits in the operation support field have been steadily increasing. We will still aim to return to profitability by partially compensating for the decline in profits in the development field.’

Forecasts for FY2023, page 19

Down from its previous forecast of 160 million yen operating profit. Company directors are once again taking 20% cut in salaries Jan - Mar 23 due to a 'delay in the recovery plan'. Share Price (Google Finance) is holding steady as she blows goes, but there was a curious spike in early January ahead of a Square Enix announcement of a new Dragon Quest mobile game. Ended up being developed by Koei Tecmo, NJ stock returned to its previous level, speculation or did Yuji Naka (allegedly) get some bad intel from the inside of Square Enix a prison cell?!?

IR Meeting & Financial Reports:
2023.02.21 (tentative) Analyst meeting on financial results (Japan Securities Analysts Association, 13:30~ @ Kabuto 2).
2023.05.10 (tentative) Q3 FY 6.2023. NJ Holdings Financial Year (FY) is 1st July - 30th June since 2020.

Can check the IR website to see if any news/press releases appear in the weeks that follow. Time for our plucky NJ Holdings Heroes to Assemble. Make Jam Fun (Together) & Grow By Doing! Hang in there NJ massive - make sure you buy all the games if you haven't already & never lose faith, never let people call you out for having a Synduality doubt. GO!! TRI-ACE.

'Our goal is to be the #1 creative group when it comes to reliably delivering fantastic results. We want everyone in the industry to know they can rest assured when NJ group is on the job.'

(13/08/23 - link broken by the fancy pants Wit One site redesign but your inspiring motto shall never be forgotten).​

 

[KR_EP]

Save us tri-Ace you are The Last Hope! Impatiently waiting for our three aces to return to base, yet have no fear Based Install Base as there's have plenty of Game Studio Goodies below...

Endo: I have to say, there's no two ways about it, Super Mario Bros was the most interesting game last year. It's no contest.

Miyamoto: Well, I'm a big fan of Xevious and Tower of Druaga myself. We had them bring an arcade cabinet to our office, and I played Tower of Druaga on it. But I couldn't get past floor 60… I got sent back to floor 14 and couldn't end up finishing it. Still though, the maze programming is excellent, as I've come to expect of Namco. It's impressively well-made.

Endo: Actually, you know, we had originally planned to have 256 floors. But we thought that would be too hard for players, so we decided to make it the same height as the tallest building in Japan, sixty floors.

Miyamoto: I see. How philosophical…!

Endo: Hah, no, my generation, the "Gundam Generation", we love to make up stupid reasons for every choice we make. Even if it's a lie. (laughs) Actually, there's an employee of ours named Akira who's always breaking things, and we gave him the nickname "Bakira". I named the "Bacula" enemies in Xevious after him! That's my style.

Source: Masanobu Endo x Shigeru Miyamoto - 1986 Developer Interview, Famimaga Issue 2/86 (English translation by shumuplations).

Essential read with both very loose & relaxed, mutual respect is clear. On that note, before getting onto NJ Happenings, a recent interview with Shigeru Miyamoto offers further insight while in the Manga Sales Discussion thread @War Inquisitor provided overall Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai sales figures to tide us over until the Game (Studio) finally arrives (will update OPs later):

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai has 50.000.000 copies in circulation.

Last week I contacted NJ Holdings, thanking the company for making its Supplemental Materials For FY2023 Financial Results available in English. Requested that NJ Holdings consider translating all of its Investor Relations (IR) pages so that people interested in the company do not have to rely on DeepL Translator. Asked confirmation if Game Studio are still developer of takt.op (last mentioned 2021 on NJ home page) announced by DENA & Bandai Namco launching June 2023? Final query was to find out if Undergrounded was still in development:

‘Thank you for your interest in our company.

My name is Soichi Nozawa and I'm in charge of IR.

Regarding your inquiries, my response is as follows.

- Improvement and reinforcement for provision of information are being considered including the expansion of English-language disclosure. For example, we are going to live stream next briefing that is scheduled to be held in August.
- GameStudio is no longer involved in the development.
- The project is continuing, but the development schedule is not set in stone at all and the release cannot be guaranteed.

Best regards,

Soichi Nozawa’

Really appreciate Soichi Nozawa going to the trouble of answering my queries. The change in developer on takt.op from Game Studio by DENA/Bandai Namco/Game Partners helps explain its delay until June 2023. But what is this UNDERGROUNDED? Why I thought you’d never ask…last seen at Bitsummit 2021, no platforms, playable with Dual Shock 4 at the show.

ABOUT
"GameStudio Inc" was established in 1985 by Masanobu Endo, the creator of "Xevious" and "Tower of Druaga", with the philosophy "Creation of Amazing!".
Even after Endo resigned from CEO and became an advisor, we still uphold his philosophy and keep developing games for smartphones, home consoles, arcades, PCs, and other devices.
Aiming to be the number one developer in Japan, we will be exhibiting "UNDERGROUNDED" as our new challenge to indie games.

GAMES
UNDERGROUNDED
ADV
An adult adventure game in which a broken man, who has just been rejected for a marriage proposal, explores an underground labyrinth where various "lost things" such as objects, feelings, and memories, have accumulated as a stratum of history, and recovers his "precious things.

Source: GameStudio Inc. IndiePublishers Sponsor (BitSummit)

Hello!
I am in charge of public relations.
We are exhibiting at the Kyoto BitSummit, which starts today!

At this event, we will be unveiling "UNDERGROUNDED", which was developed by our company.
You can play it here, so please drop by!

Source: Game Studio (Facebook)

Pure happenstance I found out more whilst researching VR studio Secret Location after the announcement of its closure, looking up the Paranormal Pest Control staff only to find out its composer, Dale North worked on the score for an unreleased Game Studio title. Small world huh? Dale North, has a prolific & wide ranging career (sample of their recent credits below):

Nintendo eShop "The Download" theme (2017) (Nintendo of America) Composer
Nintendo hired me to write the music for the material they’d use to promote monthly releases. It’s strangely popular with Switch fans.

Nintendo Minute main theme (2021) (Nintendo) Composer
The theme and music Nintendo of America’s long-running show? That’s a-me!

River City Girls 2 (2022) (WayForward, Rooster Teeth, Arc System Works) Composer
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Windows
Sequel to the hit game based on the classic River City Franchise

RWBY: Arrowfell (2022) (WayForward, Rooster Teeth, Arc System Works) Lead Composer
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Windows
Official game based on the hit animation

Source: Credits (Dale North Music)​

Before getting back on track to his own mention of working on Undergrounded back in 2021 with a brief synopsis to boot, couple sales data points on his Bio page. Born in Tokyo, now based in San Diego, can scroll down for multiple interviews. News from IGN back in 2018 that Wizard of Legend sold 500,000 copies while his credits mentioned the below sales milestone.

Wizard of Legend (2018) (Contingent99/Humble) Composer
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS,
The smash hit indie rogue like that has sold about 7 million copies by now!

Source: Bio (Dale North Music)​

'A new game I'm working on debuted at BitSummit in Kyoto this month. It's called Undergrounded, from Game Studio Inc, also in Kyoto. It has a fantastic premise and art, and I'm writing pop and rock (among other things!) for it. It's been a blast so far.

It's about a guy who has had the worst day of his life after being turned down from a marriage proposal. This is how bad his day gets: after that his ring falls down into a street drain. But down there is underground labyrinth where lost things such as objects, feelings, and memories are uncovered.

I hope to have more news to share later but for now enjoy this amazing artwork from the game'.

Source: NEW PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT: UNDERGROUNDED (Dale North Music)​

Email sent to composer for an update, no reply - might be a case of waiting until Game Studio give clearance to discuss it publicly once more before they'd be able to do so. To conclude:

Gone Girl Studio
takt.OP

[TBC] UNDERGROUNDED <ADV> (Game Studio) {XXXX.XX.XX}​

 

[Celestial]

I really appreciate your hard work with these things @KR_EP ! Btw what link do you use to check out tri-ace's hirings? Also, the UI/UX Researcher position that they posted on their main site doesn't seem like it doesn't go anywhere.

Another thing that is likely just me being super speculative and reading too much into it. The FY2023 results stipulate that there is a *delay* in acquiring new orders:

The problem for tri-ace back when their pre-Star Ocean 6 results showed was that they had not gotten new development contracts. This slide from NJ Holdings talking about a "delay in new orders" might then refer to tri-ace getting a dev contract signed on then? Add to the fact that NJ's console game development for NJ Holdings also appear to still be the 3 games despite SO6 getting a release back in October.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but I do wonder if this particular wording of a 'delay' and not "inability" to acquire new contracts mean that they managed to land a console game contract with someone.

 

[KR_EP]

Cheers for the feedback @Celestial - link works fine, both in English & Japanese, it's just that under the job category/interview tab, when you click job detail (UI/UX Artist or R&D Programmer) if you scroll down to the very bottom, see quote below, then click on Contact before sending an inquiry. Which is fair enough, tri-Ace gotta separate the wheat from the chaff!

Submission of Application Documentation​

◆Application online:
Please contact and let us know by pressing the button below.
We will inform you of a URL for uploading the application.
Source: tri-Ace UI/UX recruit detail

Interview with R&D Programmer, Sven Janusch below (Japanese has family name first) although his Linkedin page which lists him as Senior Software Developer in the research & development department of Tri-Ace. Started out at Ubisoft for a decade (Related Designs Software GmbH - A Ubisoft Studio, then Blue Byte) in similar roles before joining tri-Ace in December 2014. His profile also mentions lecturing in Advanced Computer Science at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) where he received his Masters Degree. Way out of my league, John Linneman & Alex Battaglia at Digital Foundry could always reach out & request an opportunity to cover the propriety tech at tri-Ace with Sven Janusch in greater detail. Cursory glance over LinkedIn also brought up Thomas Chassin, former Game Programmer on multiple projects, including Star Ocean: The Divine Force before going freelance in late 2020. Will confirm before updating OPs:

Create a wave of change with new ideas.​

What is your job?​

I’m a programmer in the R&D department. I mainly research and implement simulations and rendering techniques for the in-house engine. Some of my previous works are the simulation of hair and the rendering of landscapes. These new features were programmed for several platforms (PC, PS4, smartphones, etc.).
As part of my job, I also have to create tools, which makes it necessary to closely cooperate with artists and game development teams.
The knowledge of C++, GPU programming as well as skills in mathematics and physics are necessary for my job. Due to the quickly evolving industry, it is essential to constantly study and research the newest technologies.
The reason I work at tri-Ace is that I am allowed to research technologies rather than just developing games. However, it is gratifying to see, that the game development teams are using my technologies to make better games.

What kind of co-worker do you want?​

I like people with a passion to learn and who are also willing to teach others their knowledge.

Advice for applicants.​

For experienced applicants, I recommend that you highlight your experiences and expertise and how you would improve our engine and our company with your abilities.

What is your impression of tri-Ace?​

I like to work with an in-house engine because it gives me more freedom to implement my ideas. I am also thankful for the support during my move to Japan and for the constant support to learn the Japanese language.

Source: tri-Ace R&D Programmer Interview

MyNavi is worth checking for all Japanese studios, including tri-Ace (company profile) are still hiring staff & for 2024 graduates, a 20,000 yen per month pay rise. More staff profiles here:

□■NEW■□□□
We have started recruiting for 2024 graduates.
We are looking forward to receiving your applications.
Please note that there will be a change in the starting salary amount from March 1.
　Please check the latest information.

◆Company Information Session◆
We have company information sessions on the web that you can watch at any time.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to us by filling out the questionnaire at the end of the session.
We will answer your questions from the company's My Page to the extent that we can.

Please note that the starting salary has been raised and some parts of the presentation may differ from the content of the explanation.
　Please understand.

Starting salary before change
225,000 yen per month
Annual salary 2.7 million yen

After the change
245,000 yen per month
Annual salary 2.94 million yen

Source: (via DeepL Translation)

As to the number of projects, as mentioned before, far too many variables to work it out. Depends on whether or not Undergrounded is currently in active development. That's assuming the first two are Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai & Synduality. As for any delay, it could be due to ongoing projects taking longer than expected (Synduality began five years ago, no idea how long Game Studio have been involved but it helps explain the influence of NieR Automata), pitches being rejected or sent back to revise. Alternatively, publishers like Square Enix might not green-light new titles until complete, or new CEO & management take over? Once the third quarter financial results are published in May, we'll have a clearer idea of any new projects being commissioned by publishers or internally developed. Then I can send a follow up query to Investor Relations, asking for clarity on announced & unannounced projects.

character design
NECO
It has been five years since I was asked to work on this project. It is the first time for me to be involved in one work for such a long period of time, and I have such a strong feeling for this work that it is difficult to express in words. I would be happy if I could share even a part of my feelings with you through the images and information that will be released in the future.

Coffin design draft
Ippei Katabe
GYOBU IPPEI
Congratulations on your announcement at last! In fact, we have already had a long relationship with this work, and it has been five years since the first aircraft design was decided upon. In this fast-moving world, I think we were able to achieve our initial goal because of the solid concept that we all created together. We are looking forward to the day when everyone will be able to enjoy both the game and the anime.

Source: Synduality (via DeepL Translations for NECO & GYOBU IPPEI

AnimeJapan2023 next weekend promises further details on the animated TV series of Synduality, perhaps the game will be shown once more in the near future. Facebook image showing Undergrounded playable on Dual Shock 4 controllers at Bit Summit 2021 link stopped working, re-added & can be viewed here. Check out the full banner here as it gives a sense of its cool visual style & varied locations. Hope it's released, Kishi: Fujii Souta no Shogi Training did ok at retail in Japan. Speaking of which, King Game Studio stay (vicariously) winning!

King Sota Fujii, Osho Tournament
Congratulations on your first defense!

In the 6th round of the 72nd ALSOK Cup Ousho Tournament
Sota Fujii won by 88 moves against Yoshiharu Hanyu 9-dan, winning his 4th game and defending his title for the first time.
Congratulations!

All of us at Shoutore Development wish you continued success in your future endeavors!

Source: Sho-Tore News, 12/03/23 (via DeepL Translation)

Source: King Fujii & Hanyu 9-dan] Game 6 of the 72nd ALSOK Cup Tournament of Champions (uncut from ceiling camera) - all 1 hour 8 mins of Hot Dog Shogi Action via Twitter feed. (edit: fixed link)

 

[Celestial]

Nevermind, I just double-checked previous reports and it looks like NJ had 4 console games in development *when* Star Ocean was being developed and went down to 3 after its release at the end of October, meaning that their "3" number is still the prevailing one with tri-ace not picking up anything new as per the February 2023 report. Maybe we'll see in May what happens then.

I really hope tri-ace lands another console game contract with Square Enix, SO6 really was a return to form (within their budget constraints and in-house technology of course)

 

[KR_EP]

Brave to the Grave (*tentative)
Viewer comments have a magical effect!?
A super challenging action game brought to you by tri-Ace on the next-generation game streaming platform “fingger”!
August 03, 2022 - free to play (Japan only).​

Q3 report has dropped but first, a brief catch up on the latest developments. Details above on a game worked on by tri-Ace last year for a currently Japan only, interactive streaming platform fingger. Company has been hiring more staff, at both Game Studio & tri-Ace, with pay rises to boot. Japanese only (no subtitles) but very slickly put together so they're worth a watch all the same. The latter was promoted by Scooby Ryo Miyahara & The Gang New Aces, future stars of JRPG Scooby Doo, plucky young game developer by day, Persona 5-esque crime solving antics by night.

Spoiler: Game Studio recruitment video

Interviews with employees of Game Studio Co.
​

Game Studio (myNavi2024), 12th May 2023
We are recruiting new graduates for the class of 2024! ★
We are accepting applications at any time throughout the year.
If you are passionate about game development, we are looking forward to hearing from you!
We are looking forward to hearing from you!

We are now showing a video interview with our employees.
We interviewed employees in each job category for the recruitment of new graduates.
What kind of work do you do?　What is rewarding?　What kind of people are you looking for?
Please take a look at our thoughts on game development!

Spoiler: tri-Ace recruitment video

Enjoyment of My Work (tri-ace job recruitment video, early 2023)
​

tri-Ace (myNavi2024), 18th April 2023
□■NEW■□□□
The application process for the first round has been closed.
We are currently screening applications, so please wait for a while for the results.

We will inform you of the results of the second course as soon as they are determined.

◆Company Briefing Session
tri-Ace is holding a company information session on the web, which you can watch anytime.
If you have any questions or comments that you would like to know more about, please send them to us by using the questionnaire QR at the end of the briefing.
We will answer your questions from the company's My Page to the extent that we can.

Please note that the starting salary increase has been decided and some parts of the explanation may differ from the content of the presentation.
　Please understand.

Starting salary before change
225,000 yen per month
Annual salary 2.7 million yen

After the change
245,000 yen per month
Annual salary 2.94 million yen

Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Nine Months Financial Results
NJ Holdings Inc.
Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market Code number: 9421
May 12, 2023​

Summary Q3 results (Jan. 2023 - Mar. 2023)

• Operating loss narrowed. Gross profit margin is also on an improving trend. (page 5)
• Game business became profitable. Mobile business also recovered from the loss in the first half and returned to operating profit. (page 6)
• In the game business, there was no big deviation in the cost in the third quarter, and sales recovered to over 2 billion yen. (page 7)

Main takeaway being the worse is hopefully behind NJ Holdings, Game Business is back to black for the 3rd quarter as a result of support work. Heading in the right direction after a disappointing first half that led to its revised downward forecast of a mere 15 million yen profit compared to initial plans of 160 million yen. Net Sales represent 73.4% progress with a loss of 157 million yen (page 20) as of 31st March - so there's still more work to be done in order to make even the modest revised target. Another solid quarter is needed to make it to the promised land NJ Holdings!!!

Spoiler: Game Business

(1)Overview

• In terms of sales, in the operation support field, orders related to newly released titles and localization support for overseas markets were favorable, but revenues declined due to the gradual downward trend in operation sales.
• In the development field, although there was no huge increase in cost of sales as in the previous fiscal year, profit declined due to a lower profit margin resulting from an increase in total estimated cost of sales and a gradual decrease in operating sales. However, Operating income in the segment returned to the black as a result of steady profit growth in the operation support field in line with strong orders.

(2)Sales Breakdown
In the operation and royalty, sales declined YoY due to the gradual decline in operation sales, but the impact on profit was minimal due to the contribution of the operation support business. (page 10)
(3)Quarterly Sales Breakdown
Operating revenues have stopped declining since the current fiscal year due to the contribution of the operational support business. (page 11)
(4)Quarterly Operating Profit
In the development field, there were no new cost increase estimates in the third quarter & profits recovered. Strong orders in the operation support field also underpinned profits. (page 12)

Number of projects currently under development ※1
Package type ※2 ※3 (Main platforms: consoles, PCs):
3 (±0 from Feb. 10, 2023)

Smartphone type ※2 ※4 (Main platforms: mobile phone, PC):
2 (±0 from Feb. 10, 2023)

employees ※5
808 (+14 from Dec. 31, 2022) (+11 from Jun. 30, 2022)

※1 - as of February 10, 2023. It does not indicate the number of titles that will be completed within this fiscal year.
※2 - Multi-platform title counts as one. Small titles are not counted.
※3 - Download sales and additional content are also included in the console type.
※4 - including the free-to-play type.
※5 - as of December 31, 2022 (including some fixed-term contract workers).

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Nine Months Financial Results, (Jul. 2022 - Mar. 2023), May 12, 2023 (page 13).

Forecasts for FY2023
There is no change to the full-year earnings forecast announced on February 10, 2023.
Although the company still posted an operating loss for the first nine months of the current fiscal year, its performance for the third quarter of the current fiscal year is generally progressing according to plan (page 20)

Number of Employees: consolidated 963 (as of March 31, 2023. It includes 70 average temporary employees) (page 22)

No big stories here, no major contract secured when outlining the amounts spent by tri-ACE R&D (curious small write off at tri-Ace), a question of wait & see if NJ can maintain the positive momentum to finally return to a (very small) profit of 15 million yen. However it's the Next Financial Year (July 2023 - June 2024) will be crucial as Game Studio have been working on Synduality & Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai for some time. Have emailed IR for additional insight but as these are contract works, doubt NJ IR is able to fully answer.

Consolidated Financial Results for the Third Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2023, page 9
3. Information on Impairment Loss on Noncurrent Assets, Goodwill, etc. by Reportable Segment (Material Impairment Loss on Noncurrent Assets)
In the game business, the Company has determined that the excess earning capacity initially projected is no longer expected as a result of considering the progress against the initial business plan and future business prospects of Tri-Ace Corporation, a consolidated subsidiary, and has recorded an impairment loss on goodwill. The amount of impairment loss on goodwill due to this event is 220,524 thousand yen.

Annual Securities Reports, etc. Q3 FY6/2023 page 4
In the game business, tri-Ace, Inc. conducts research and development activities mainly for game engines, etc. Total research and development expenses for the third quarter of the current fiscal year amounted to 106 million yen.
There was no decision or conclusion of important management contracts during the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

For now, I leave you with this super chill in-game track from Solitaire GOLD, safe in the knowledge that Game Studio also produce Game Sounds to soothe any fiscal nerves, can NJ Holdings recover its Money-Making-Mojo? Edit: But if thats overkill chill for you, here's a real funky number for the press release that tri-Ace licensed SPARK GEAR for its propriety Aska Engine.

'This is the opening BGM for Solitaire GOLD, which is distributed on Yahoo!
We can also produce game sounds.'​

tri-Ace (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshiharu Gotanda, CEO) and Spark (headquartered in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Yuichiro Okamura, CEO) announce that they have signed a comprehensive agreement for the use of "SPARK GEAR" developed and sold by Spark. SPARK GEAR" developed and marketed by Spark.

SPARK GEAR has been adopted as the system for the effects of "Aska Engine," tri-Ace's in-house developed engine that has produced various popular titles.

We will continue to build a higher quality and lower cost environment by utilizing the strengths of both companies.

SPARK GEAR is a VFX production tool that enables the deployment of ultra-high quality and realistic 3D effects on various multi-platforms at a low learning cost.
It is compatible with various middleware such as Unity and Unreal Engine, and has a proven track record not only on iOS and Android, but also on PlayStation5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. We can also deploy to overseas regions at no additional cost. The Aska Engine solves at a stroke the problems that producers face on a daily basis, such as maintenance, drastic reduction of communicaiton costs, the need to produce effects in large quantities, and easy management of resources. Aska Engine is a high-performance game development environment that integrates runtime libraries and tools that enable the development of applications for various console game consoles, PCs, and smartphones in a completely unified environment. SPARK GEAR is not only included as a library, but is fully integrated into the Aska Engine workflow, allowing for seamless handling of 3D effects created with SPARK GEAR.

Source: PR Times, February 27, 2023 (note: all Japanese language sources in this post have been translated via www.DeepL.com/Translator)

 

[KR_EP]

How's the NJ Massive getting on? *tumbleweed* Without further adieu let's catch up with the latest from the No. 1 Creative Group before analysing the Media Create Sales CY2022 Top 1000 NG+

Game Studio

A mysterious meteorite crashes into a city in Japan!

The city was engulfed in a starburst!

Some time later,
People with mysterious powers began to appear in the city.

They are interested in something that has been handed down in the city!

It is the "Fight Festival"!

The curtain now opens on a fierce battle of fights between reincarnated people!

*it's dead Drecom*
ADULT PRANK RPG
The Legend of Dachimen G
Yankee culture is a Japanese tradition that should be a source of pride to the world.
What would happen if you crossed it with the "reincarnation" that is so popular today?
We dared to challenge such a forbidden worldview that everyone has dreamed of but has been kept under wraps!
Devices: iOS / Android​

"Dachimen Densetsu G", which we helped develop, has been released by Studio Rex Co., (my note: Rex is a Drecom subsidiary - see company entry on Interactive Industrial・Output Strategy・Japan)

Sources: Drecom Press Release - May 16, 2023 & Game Studio / NJ Holdings news bulletin - May 17,2023

*Dead Image 2*​

ちゅり
ダチメン ダチグラ 今日の肛門占いは・・・ うーーーーんハズレです
"Dachimen Densetsu G"
Today's anal horoscope is...
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Twitter​

Two very different approaches to marketing in the domestic & international trailers by Square Enix announcing the September 28, 2023 release date, alongside the Xbox Series version.


【インフィニティ ストラッシュ　ドラゴンクエスト ダイの大冒険】発売日発表トレーラー

Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai | Release Date Trailer​

Media Create Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 03 - 2023 Jan 01)
286./376. [NSW] Kuukiyomi 1+2+3+ <Kuukiyomi: Consider It! \ Kuukiyomi 2: Consider It More! New Era \ Kuukiyomi 3: Consider It More and More!! Father to Son> <ETC> (G-Mode) {2021.11.25} (¥3.000) - 7.682 / 12.973 (+45%) (1.011 <25,03%>)
476./362. [NSW] Kishi: Fujii Souta no Shogi Training <TBL> (AnelaGamesStudio) {2020.03.05} (¥4.500) - 3.505 / 24.502 (-37%) (1.815 <35,90%>)

Included the Kuukiyomi 1+2+3+ sales just in case NJ Holdings gets some of that sweet G-Mode residuals. Real Kishi takeaway is that Shogi Training is chugging along nicely. Prove that Game Studio is capable of self publishing on Switch, a positive sign for Undergrounded to re-appear from its development hell-hidey-hole? Maybe it's time for a follow up (on Switch 2?!?).

tri-Ace
Terrific Technology, Radical R&D, Incredible Quality
RPG King​

Media Create Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 03 - 2023 Jan 01)
100./000. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 37.413 / NEW (25.594 <77,94%>)
120./000. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 26.746 / NEW (18.774 <78,23%>)
First Shipments [PS4] 32,838 & [PS5] 23,998

Media Create Sales: CY 2022 Used (2022 Jan 03 - 2023 Jan 01)
359./353. [PS4] Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness <RPG> (Square Enix) {2016.03.31} (¥7.980) - 3.161 / 110.984 (-26%) (254.793 <77,17%>) New Game Retails Sales = 144,000
144,000 - 143,768 = 232 new retail copies sold in CY2022.

Digital Drifting​

PS Store Sales: Oct 2022 (Oct 01 - Oct 31)
02./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)
04./00. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

PS Store Sales: Nov 2022 (Nov 01 - Nov 30)
09./02. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)
09./04. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

PS Store Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 1 - 2022 Dec 31)
17./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980)

Second Story Short, its way down on the prior entry but distributors & retailers avoid the fate of Valkyrie Elysium by ordering a reasonable amount (both on 2nd pressings). Actually its worth pointing out that Star Ocean Integrity & Faithlessness on PS4 is still on its first shipment (150,837 - 144,000 = 6,837 new retail copies left) at 200 a year that's another 34 years to go!

Spoiler: Weekly Famitsu 2022

Weekly Famitsu Sales Data 2022, replaced with Media Create Sales: CY 2022 in the OP now that Media Create Sales CY2022 Top 1000 have been published.

Famitsu Sales: Week 44, 2022 (Oct 24 - Oct 30)
03./00. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 27.001 / NEW <60-80%>
07./00. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 17.177 / NEW <60-80%>

• PS4 1st Shipment Estimate: 33,751 - 45,001
• PS5 1st Shipment Estimate: 21,471 - 28,628

Famitsu Sales: Week 45, 2022 (Oct 31 - Nov 06)
11./03. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 4.886 / 31.887 <60-80%> (-82%)
26./07. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 2.140 / 19.317 <80-100%> (-88%)

• PS4 1st Shipment Estimate: 39,858 - 45,001
• PS5 1st Shipment Estimate: 21,471 - 24,146

Famitsu Sales: Week 46, 2022 (Nov 07 - Nov 13)
29./11. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 2.206 / 34.093 <80-100%> (-55%)

• PS4 1st Shipment Estimate: 39.858 - 42,616

Famitsu Sales: CY 2022 (2021 Dec 27 - 2022 Dec 25)
94./00. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7,980) - 37,730 / NEW

37,730 - 34,093 = 3,637 additional retail copies sold from Week 46 until Dec 25th, 2022.

Shacknews spoke with Scenario Writer Satoshi Wagahara, Director Kentaro Arakawa, Producer Shingo Mukaitouge, and Illustrator/Designer Akiman via email.​

Shacknews: Originally character designs for Star Ocean were meant to have action-figure-like qualities to them. Is that same concept still intact today or have you taken new approaches to character design?

Star Ocean Development Team: The goal was not to create an action figure, but rather a CG animation-like figure. This was done in consideration of the game’s setting and their compatibility with the background graphics. We believe the recent trend in JRPGs is to use anime style graphics, but for this title we were aiming for a different kind of expression. However, we are not necessarily fixated on this, and will continue to consider what the best expression is for Star Ocean.

As for character design, we asked Akiman-san to design the characters for this title as well. In the previous title, all seven players battle at the same time, so asked for a design that allows for players to intuitively understand what kind of attacks the characters would make, on top of scenario-based design requests.

Star Ocean 3 Eternal Materials Tri-Ace Interview with Yoshiharu Gotanda (President & CEO), Hiroshi Ogawa (Vice Director) & Hajime Kojima (from Square Enix).​

--Is there a reason you made the last boss a game company?
Gotanda: I don't consider the Eternal Sphere a game. I didn't really have an image of what kind of company Sphere is. I guess you could think of it as a game company though.

--But that would make you the new Luther!
Gotanda: (Laughs)

--What are we supposed to think about the ending?
Gotanda: There are no words in any human language that I can use to answer that question. It's something like, "Why were humans born into this world?" or "Why do humans exist?" I wish I could connect our brains with an electrode so you can understand what I'm thinking. Whether or not the world still exists after the ending, I leave to your imagination.

--Do you have a message for the Star Ocean fans?
Gotanda: As far as I'm concerned, Star Ocean is finished.

Kojima: I can say that if fans communicate their passion, there is a good chance Star Ocean can come back. I'm sure that President Gotanda feels the same way. (Laughs)

Gotanda: Yeah. (Uncomfortable laugh)

Source: Translation by The Legendary Zoltan​

Lex Luther Gotanda - Star Ocean auteur or saboteur - vote now...well after the current poll ends, be sure to cast your vote before Infinity Strash makes a Splash! Uncomfortable laughter is how people respond to Output Strategy threads but hopefully someone has found this mildly interesting. Now we must wait for the end of year financial results & live shareholders meeting.

 

[Celestial]

Second Story Short, its way down on the prior entry but distributors & retailers avoid the fate of Valkyrie Elysium by ordering a reasonable amount (both on 2nd pressings). Actually its worth pointing out that Star Ocean Integrity & Faithlessness on PS4 is still on its first shipment (150,837 - 144,000 = 6,837 new retails copies remaining) at 200 a year that's another 34 years to go!!!

Great stuff as always KR_EP, but forgive me for not being able to understand your jokes, but what do you mean here? Especially with regard to "both being on 2nd pressings"? What's both?

 

[KR_EP]

No worries. My fault not yours as the only thing worst than my terrible jokes is my poor grammar & failure to proof read. I meant both PS4 & PS5 retail versions of Star Ocean: The Divine Force have cleared the first shipments. My thought was how lessons may have been learnt by retailers & distributors a month after Valkyrie Elysium was massively over shipped & even with major discounts has thousands more copies on shelves. While I'd already posted those numbers elsewhere on the forum a week before, I forgot to include them here, will do so now.

Media Create Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 03 - 2023 Jan 01)
100./000. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 37.413 / NEW (25.594 <77,94%>)
120./000. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.10.27} (¥7.980) - 26.746 / NEW (18.774 <78,23%>)
First Shipments [PS4] 32,838 & [PS5] 23,998

Media Create Sales: CY 2022 (2022 Jan 03 - 2023 Jan 01)
103./000. [PS4] Valkyrie Elysium <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.09.29} (¥7.800) - 34.493 / NEW (19.384 <42,30%>)
141./000. [PS5] Valkyrie Elysium <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.09.29} (¥7.800) - 21.280 / NEW (14.706 <46,36%>)
First Shipments [PS4] 45,825 & [PS5] 31,721

'Meaning that even after retailers heavily discounted almost immediately after launch there are still 11,332 & 10,441 copies left respectively. PS5 version is especially troubling as you'd think a more active user base may have been inclined to pick it up on sale. Poor marketing by Square Enix, failing to clearly outline it as a spin-off while tri-Ace worked on Star Ocean 6.'

The last sentence is a reference to a post I'd made months back about how Square Enix could've had a strategy whereby Soleil was heading up a spin off 'Elysium' series while the 'Profile' titles will continue to be developed by tri-Ace, explaining they currently focused on Star Ocean 6. Again I need to do a better job making these points clearer. With regards to how it compares unfavourably (to put it lightly) to Star Ocean: Integrity & Faithlessness retail on PS4 version alone. But at least retailers aren't stuck with thousands of unsold copies years later. We don't talk about Exist Archive first shipments ...at least not here, would only upset me Raspberry_Chan but might do so in the Kadokawa Corporation Output Strategy thread later on.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R logo leaked via Square Enix Support Center website​

It's been mentioned in the recent Media Create threads in passing, I haven't commented on the leaked images of a potential new release of Star Ocean 2 but here's the Gematsu article for those who missed it. If/when it gets formally announced, can find out if tri-Ace has any direct involvement & discuss what it means for the Star Ocean series going forward. Wanna dream job?

Applications for the second round are now being accepted. (updated 06/02/2023)
□■NEW■□□□
We are now accepting applications for the second course!
The method of submitting entry sheets and application documents will be changed from the second course.
The URL for submitting entry sheets and application documents will be different for each job category.
Please confirm the entry sheet and URL for submission from the e-mail sent at the time of your entry.

Deadline for the second course application: July 2

Game Studio are still hiring too by the looks of things, still waiting for the latest headcount for the various studios at NJ Holdings, except for Wit One Okinawa which is up by 3 to 109. Speaking of Wit One, shall end with pics from its booth last month at the Game Market Spring 2023. Financial Year ends 30th June 2023, will follow up once its end of year report is out.

Wit One's booth [A-32].
Raspberry-chan is coming!

Everyone, please come and

꙳✧˖Come and meet her °⌖꙳.​

 

[Celestial]

The thing that I'm wondering is that per May 2023, the total staff count at NJ Holdings is at 808 per May 2023, which to me sounds crazy if tri-ace was in such dire straits in the fiscal quarter before the release of Star Ocean 6 (because it got delayed out of the fiscal quarter and into the next, I assume). You don't keep running this high burn rate if you don't have a contract or a revenue source in place:

So I do wonder what's going on at tri-ace and NJ Holdings if they haven't downsized their workforce considerably, but the amount of console/PC projects are at 3.

It's been mentioned in the recent Media Create threads in passing, I haven't commented on the leaked images of a potential new release of Star Ocean 2 but here's the Gematsu article for those who missed it. If/when it gets formally announced, can find out if tri-Ace has any direct involvement & discuss what it means for the Star Ocean series going forward. Wanna dream job?

Apparently it's Gem Drops with the old tri-ace programmer Kitao who's heading the Star Ocean 2 remake? Tri-ace doesn't appear to be involved.

 

[KR_EP]

TLDR: Already keenly awaiting Bitsummit 2023 (14th - 16th July) for many reasons, including Gemdrops. However I'll check to see if Game Studio return with Undergrounded (playable at BitSummit 2021). In which case I'll type up a storm! Otherwise I'll next post here to review & analyse the NJ Holdings End of Year Financial Report 07/22 - 06/23), due 10-13th August.

The thing that I'm wondering is that per May 2023, the total staff count at NJ Holdings is at 808 per May 2023, which to me sounds crazy if tri-ace was in such dire straits in the fiscal quarter before the release of Star Ocean 6 (because it got delayed out of the fiscal quarter and into the next, I assume). You don't keep running this high burn rate if you don't have a contract or a revenue source in place:

So I do wonder what's going on at tri-ace and NJ Holdings if they haven't downsized their workforce considerably, but the amount of console/PC projects are at 3.

​

What's going on is that none of those 'articles' posted last year aren't reliable without corroborating evidence, yet gossip continues to spread like wildfire despite my attempts to debunk them using sources at hand. Please ignore them. Heads up, believe the 'Game Segment' staff count was 808 as of March 31, 2023 & number of console/PC projects was 3 as of Feb 10, 2022, not May. Recommend using the English language documents for the Briefings then check the Japanese language ones for any additional information. Did ask the head of IR about the projects in development but not going to bother them unduly. Don't think we should focus on it (veers into naval gazing/cyber stalking) but as you asked I'll summarise it below: (edit: typos & more links)

Well, it started, for me it started last October. In response to an urgent message from my Alerts I'd hurried home to login InstallBase.
At first glance, everything looked the same. It wasn't. Something evil had taken possession of the forum.

NJ Holdings Company Outline​

Number of Employees	18 (consolidated 884) (as of June 30, 2022)​

So this was the overall company head count as of June 30, 2022 as it has other, smaller business operations aside from video-games. However its 893 after removing 70 temporary staff as of March 31, 2023. For this discussion I'll focus on the 'Game Segment' which makes up the vast majority of its staff count (797 as of June 30, 2022). Here's a summary of NJ Holdings staff capped off with an abridged company history. Staff counts will always change as people come & go. Don't forget that small titles are not counted in the overall number of projects. (26/06: age. milk. )

Listen to me! Please listen! If you don't, if you won't, if you fail to understand, then the same incredible terror that's menacing me WILL STRIKE AT YOU!

Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Quarter Financial Results
(July 2022 - September 2022)
November 11, 2022

Number of Projects Under Development ※1 ​

Console/PC ※2 ※3​	3 (-1 from Aug. 10, 2022)​
Mobile ※2 ※4​	3 (+2 from Aug. 10, 2022)​

Scale of Development System​

Employees ※5........ ​

791 (-6 from Jun. 30, 2022)​

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Quarter Financial Results, page 13​

※1 as of November 11, 2022. It does not indicate the number of titles that will be completed within this fiscal year.
※2 Multi-platform title counts as one. Small titles are not counted.
※3 Download sales and additional content are also included in the console type. ※4 including the free-to-play type.
※5 as of September 30, 2022 (including some fixed-term contract workers.)

1. Company Profile
(1)Basic Information and History
Basic Information
Date of Establishment: December 11, 1991
Head Office Address: 7F, Shibakoen First Building, 3-8-2 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014, Japan
Capital: JPY592,845,020 (as of June 30, 2022)
Number of Employees: consolidated 935 (as of September 30, 2022. It includes 55 average temporary employees) Fiscal Year End: June 30

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Quarter Financial Results, page 25​

Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Half Financial Results
(July 2022 - December 2022)
February 10, 2023​

Number of projects under development ※1

Console/PC ※2 ※3	3 (±0 from Nov. 11, 2022)​
Mobile ※2 ※4	2 (-1 from Aug. 11, 2022)​

Scale of Development System

Employees ※5......................................

794 (+3 from Sept. 30, 2022) (-3 from Jun. 30, 2022)​

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Half Financial Results, page 13​

※1 as of February 10, 2023. It does not indicate the number of titles that will be completed within this fiscal year.
※2 Multi-platform title counts as one. Small titles are not counted.
※3 Download sales and additional content are also included in the console type.
※4 including the free-to-play type.
※5 as of December 31, 2022 (including some fixed-term contract workers.)

1. Company Profile
(1)Basic Information and History
■Basic Information
Date of Establishment: December 11, 1991
Head Office Address: 7F, Shibakoen First Building, 3-8-2 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014, Japan
Capital: JPY592,845,020 (as of June 30, 2022)
Number of Employees: consolidated 943 (as of December 31, 2022. It includes 63 average temporary employees) Fiscal Year End: June 30

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Half Financial Results, page 21​

Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Nine Months Financial Results
(July 2022 - March 2023)
May 12, 2023​

Number of projects under development ※1

Console/PC ※2 ※3	3 (±0 from Nov. 10, 2023)
Mobile ※2 ※4	2 (±0 from Feb. 10, 2023)

Scale of Development System

Employees ※5.........................................

808 (+14 from Dec. 31, 2022) (+11 from Jun. 30, 2022)

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Nine Months Financial Results, page 13​

※1 as of February 10, 2023. It does not indicate the number of titles that will be completed within this fiscal year.
※2 Multi-platform title counts as one. Small titles are not counted.
※3 Download sales and additional content are also included in the console type.
※4 including the free-to-play type.
※5 as of December 31, 2022* (including some fixed-term contract workers.) *believe it's a typo & is meant to be March 31, 2023 as per the Japanese language version (page 13 here).

1. Company Profile
(1)Basic Information and History
■Basic Information
Date of Establishment: December 11, 1991
Head Office Address: 7F, Shibakoen First Building, 3-8-2 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014, Japan
Capital: JPY592,845,020 (as of June 30, 2022)
Number of Employees: consolidated 963 (as of March 31, 2023. It includes 70 average temporary employees) Fiscal Year End: June 30

Company History
Dec. 1991 - Established as 株式会社新都市科学研究所.
Mar. 1997 - Company name changed to Nepro Japan Co., Ltd.
Apr. 2006 - Listed on JASDAQ stock exchange.
Sep. 2011 - Mobile & Game Studio (now Game Studio Inc.) becomes a consolidated subsidiary.
Apr. 2014 - Transitioned to holding company structure.
Mar. 2015 - tri-Ace Inc. becomes a consolidated subsidiary.
Apr. 2015 - Company name changed to NJ Holdings Inc.
Jun. 2017 - Acquisition of Boom's business.
Dec. 2017 - Established Wit One Inc., a game operation/customer support company.
Oct. 2018 - Wit One acquired ISAO's game operational business.
Jun. 2019 - Changed fiscal year end from March to June.
Nov. 2019 - Merger of three companies, Wit One, Boom and NJ One.
Mar. 2020 - Wit One Okinawa joined our group.
Jul 2020 - Tech Flag Corporation was established.
Apr. 2022 - Moved to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market due to the revision of the market classification.

Source: Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Nine Months Financial Results, page 22​

I've been afraid a lot of times in my life, but I didn't know the real meaning of fear until... until I had attempted to work out the staff count at NJ Holdings.​

NJ Holdings (Game Segment)
Game Studio - 278 as of June 30, 2022 (Company Profile) same via its myNavi 2024 page, last updated June 19, 2023
Tech Flag - 20 (via its HERP Hire Careers page), job listings mention working alongside Game Studio & tri-Ace.
tri-Ace - 182 as of July 1, 2022 (Company Profile) but 180 as of Sep. 30, 2022 via its myNavi 2024 page, last updated June 5, 2023)
Wit One - 304 as of June 30, 2022 (Company Overview) currently 6 Recruitment and Job Openings via its engage page, last updated June 22, 2023
Wit One Okinawa - 109 as of May 31, 2023 (About Us) currently 3 open job listings via its RECRUTEMENT *aww* page.

278 + 20 + 182 + 304 = 784 (+ 109 = 893) plus 70 temporary staff makes 963, matching the Q3 company profile figure so the shoe fits...kinda, sorta, maybe. What about Nepro Create? No idea! Anyway, different cut off dates plus confirm if the Wit One figure contains the Okinawa division, can always check once more after the end of year report. Again I cannot stress enough, tri-Ace are not insolvent, its a subsidiary of NJ Holdings which is in the midst of a recovery plan, albeit one taking longer than initially forecast. There's specific details about tri-Ace which I already mentioned previously but have quoted again below as a reminder. Plus the news of it signing middleware. Insolvent parent companies don't hire staff, cosplayers, attend shows, raise pay...

Consolidated Financial Results for the Third Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2023, page 9 via DeepL Auto-Translation
3. Information on Impairment Loss on Noncurrent Assets, Goodwill, etc. by Reportable Segment (Material Impairment Loss on Noncurrent Assets)
In the game business, the Company has determined that the excess earning capacity initially projected is no longer expected as a result of considering the progress against the initial business plan and future business prospects of Tri-Ace Corporation, a consolidated subsidiary, and has recorded an impairment loss on goodwill. The amount of impairment loss on goodwill due to this event is 220,524 thousand yen.

Annual Securities Reports, etc. Q3 FY6/2023 page 4
'In the game business, tri-Ace, Inc. conducts research and development activities mainly for game engines, etc. Total research and development expenses for the third quarter of the current fiscal year amounted to 106 million yen.
There was no decision or conclusion of important management contracts during the third quarter of the current fiscal year,' via DeepL Auto-Translation.

tri-Ace (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshiharu Gotanda, CEO) and Spark (headquartered in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Yuichiro Okamura, CEO) announce that they have signed a comprehensive agreement for the use of "SPARK GEAR" developed and sold by Spark. SPARK GEAR" developed and marketed by Spark.

SPARK GEAR has been adopted as the system for the effects of "Aska Engine," tri-Ace's in-house developed engine that has produced various popular titles.

We will continue to build a higher quality and lower cost environment by utilizing the strengths of both companies.

SPARK GEAR is a VFX production tool that enables the deployment of ultra-high quality and realistic 3D effects on various multi-platforms at a low learning cost.
It is compatible with various middleware such as Unity and Unreal Engine, and has a proven track record not only on iOS and Android, but also on PlayStation5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. We can also deploy to overseas regions at no additional cost. The Aska Engine solves at a stroke the problems that producers face on a daily basis, such as maintenance, drastic reduction of communicaiton costs, the need to produce effects in large quantities, and easy management of resources. Aska Engine is a high-performance game development environment that integrates runtime libraries and tools that enable the development of applications for various console game consoles, PCs, and smartphones in a completely unified environment. SPARK GEAR is not only included as a library, but is fully integrated into the Aska Engine workflow, allowing for seamless handling of 3D effects created with SPARK GEAR.

Source: PR Times, February 27, 2023 via DeepL Auto-Translation

They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next...!​

Apparently it's Gem Drops with the old tri-ace programmer Kitao who's heading the Star Ocean 2 remake? Tri-ace doesn't appear to be involved.

Spoiler: Gemdrops Deets Drop

[NSW/PS4/PS5/Steam] Star Ocean: The Second Story R (GemDrops Inc.) {2023.11.02}
DEVELOPMENT
ジェムドロップ株式会社
GemDrops Inc.
PRODUCER & DIRECTOR
北尾 雄一郎（ジェムドロップ株式会社）
Yuichiro Kitao (Gem Drops Inc.)
ART DIRECTOR
増田 幸紀（ジェムドロップ株式会社）
Yukinori Masuda (GemDrops Inc.)
CHARACTER ILLUSTRATION
梶本ユキヒロ
Yukihiro Kajimoto
SOUND/MUSIC
桜庭 統
Motoi Sakuraba

​

Gemdrops, Inc.​

Gemdrops Inc. is a new game development studio in Tokyo that was established May 2013. The studio was founded by former tri-Ace Lead Engineer Yuichiro Kitao who worked on the battle systems for many well-known JRPG series such as “Star Ocean 3” and “Valkyrie Profile” and “Resonance of Fate (JA: End of Eternity)”. Currently we are developing a wide variety of games across all types of hardware from home console to arcade to smartphones. From the very beginning our staff’s main focus has been leveraging their advanced skills to create the best gameplay, visuals, and play feel possible. Whether it is a RPG, an action game or something that we don’t specialize in as long as we think it is fun we will tackle any type of project on any platform. In addition to collaborating with other companies we will continue to develop our own original titles for VR and smartphones and home consoles.
We hope you will look forward to playing more of our games in the future.​

Source: Spice & Wolf VR (Bitsummit)​

Vision
For our clients and for the users who experience our content
We don't create what is required, we create more than that.
For the people who experience the content to have fun
And for the staff who create the content
We will always provide content that will be loved for a long time so that we can be happy together.​

Yūichirō Kitao (1999 - 2013) - Battle System Programmers (Valkyrie Profile), Battle Programmer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time & Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) & Lead Programmer (Resonance of Fate). Established the developer & publisher, Gemdrops Inc., in 2013, serves as President & Founder, he is currently working as Producer & Director for Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Yukinori Masuda - (1999 - ????) Map Graphics (Valkyrie Profile), Movie Designer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time), FMV (Radiata Stories, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Resonance of Fate), FMV Art Director (Infinite Undiscovery). Art Director on Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky before joining Gemdrops at unknown date, currently Art Director on Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Kumiko Yoshioka - Character Graphics (Valkyrie Profile), Animation Designers (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time) & 3D-Animation Artists (Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness)

Hideo Yoshikawa - AI programmers (Infinite Undiscovery)

Tomoyuki Kurino - Battle Programmers (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria), Programming (World Map and UI) on Resonance of Fate.

Masahiro Shizuya - Production Assistants (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria), Production Management (Resonance of Fate)

Yasuhiro Kurimoto - Special Thanks (Infinite Undiscovery)

Gemdrops are credited with porting Star Ocean: The Second Evolution from PSP to PS3/PS4/PSVita - 'Our responsibilities: Overall development (ported from the PSP version)' Gemdrops (scroll down) via DeepL.

Freelance/Contract

Yukihiro Kajimoto - Character Designer (Infinite Undiscovery), User Interface Designers (Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness), character designer on Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Hitoshi Okamoto (Tempest Studio) - Sound Designers (Infinite Undiscovery), Sound Composers (Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume), Sound Design (Resonance of Fate), Sound Designer (Star Ocean: The Last Hope)

Special Thanks

Tetsuo Kashiwagi - Event Tool Programmer (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time), Lead Framework Programmer (Infinite Undiscovery)

Above is for work at tri-Ace only mentioned on MobyGames, which isn't a definitive source, neither is using DeepL Auto translation *mildshock.gif*. Can see others have been looking into all of this while I was going over the company details, can look at The Second Story R credits once released. Suffice to say, Yukihiro Kajimoto was one of many Character Illustrator on Star Ocean: Anamnesis (plus the Twin Eclipse manga) updating his designs from Infinite Undiscovery & most recently worked on Star Ocean: The Divine Force. Ok, I need to lie down, hope this helps!

By the way, in the SO6 art book, along with Akiman-sensei's drawings, they also included my illustrations and designs quite prominently!
I drew a lot of enemy characters and NPCs for this game, so I am very happy!​

Source Twitter page (November 2, 2022)​

​

Even these days, it isn't as easy to go crazy as you might think. But you don't have to be losing your mind to need psychiatric help.​

 

[KR_EP]

Disclaimer: Email sent to NJ Holdings a fortnight ago having read the Press Release on 26 June, raising a number of questions, including ones specifically about tri-Ace based on the above exchange. Decided to wait in the unlikely case I'd get a response (none forthcoming), plus any follow up company statements as well as seeing how the markets would (eventually) respond.

Well that post aged like fine wine milk. But in my defense your honour, nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition Second Downward Revision in the Annual Forecast, at the start of the last week of its Financial Year. As such the recent gains in the share price were reversed & then some, leaving the market cap of NJ Holdings lower than a year ago. RIP Recovery Plan FY/23.

Notice of Revision of Earnings Forecasts June 26, 2023
NJ Holdings Ltd. has revised its full-year earnings forecasts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, which were announced in the "Notice of Revision of Earnings Forecasts" dated February 10, 2023, in light of recent business trends and other factors.

Ok I want to interject to point out that (aside from that fact I'm using DeepL auto translation so take it with a grain giant RE5 volcanic boulder of salt). If this post seems a little down compared to my previous ones. Hang in there my NJ Holders On! Will go through the (short) statement piecemeal as I wish to set the scene while avoiding the alarmist speculation from last year. So the above is referring to the first downward revision that was reported at the half way point February 10, 2023 but fails to show the combined total from both. Naughty NJ! Created my own chart instead.

Revision of the forecast for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023)

(Millions of Yen)​

	Net Sales​	Operating Income​	Ordinary Income​
Initial Forecast (A)	10,710​	160​	150​
1st Revised Forecast (B)	10,470​	15​	5​
Change (B - A)	-240​	-145​	-145​
2nd Revised Forecast (C)	10,160​	-250​	-270​
Change (C - B)	-310​	-265​	-275​
Total Change (C - A)	-550​	-410​	-420​

A = Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2022 (August 10, 2022) page 16*
B = Notice of Revisions of Earnings Forecasts (February 10, 2023)*
C = Notice of Revision of Earnings Forecasts (June 26, 2023)
**English language version here on page 19 of the Supplemental Material For FY2023 First Half Financial Results, published February 10, 2023

Still here? Ok the point of the above is to show how as a result of two downward revisions they've gone from an operating forecast of 160 million profit, to 15 million profit to a loss of 250 millions yen. To put this into perspective, this is far lower than an operating income loss of 869 million yen last financial year however after a few days asleep, shareholders did respond.

However I thought it was important to note how, if this latest forecast is accurate (considering how late it was made in the financial year ending June 30, 2023 it must be close) that's a downward revision of 410 million yen. Yikes! Shall use DeepL to auto-translate several passages as it offers some insight as to why it was left until the last moment to announce the news.

'Net sales are expected to fall short of the previous forecast due to the cancellation of several development projects, mainly in the game business. In the development field of the game business, we are working to win orders for new projects. However, due in part to soaring development costs, many titles are in the planning and proof-of-concept stages, and client deliberations for full development tend to be protracted. In order to improve personnel utilization ratio, we are strengthening cooperation among group companies and dispatching workers to outside companies, but we expect only partial improvement during the current fiscal year.

In the mobile business, sales volume is expected to fall short of the previous forecast, as the number of customers visiting stores shows no signs of bottoming out and sales volume remains below the plan.

In the game business, as mentioned above, revenues are expected to decrease due to the cancellation of several development projects, while costs are mainly personnel expenses, which account for a large portion of fixed costs, and the same amount is expected to lead to a decrease in profits.

In the retail business, the Company is quickly shifting to a store strategy that focuses on customers who are rooted in the commercial area by reducing the number of price-appealing sales channels.

TLDR: company is now projecting a loss after several titles (no detail) were cancelled with staff being reallocated to other projects, either within the company or with external companies. Trying to avoid speculation, based on the initial forecast NJ Holdings advised it was aiming for more contract work in the second half of the financial year just gone. whatever negotiations had been ongoing and/or titles in the works failed to reach an agreement. Since then NJ announced investment in Tabist K.K (MarketScreener) *tourists* & Nepro Japan opened another iCracked repair store *snort*...but about the cancelled game(s). Time to find another publisher? Crowdfund Undergrounded? How come Synduality: Echo of Ada was MIA at Anime Expo 2023 & what about...tri-Ace!

Countdown to Synduality Noir Episode 1​

 

[Oregano]

There's a game coming out in a few weeks that Tri-Ace did contract work on

Spoiler

They worked on Pikmin 4 to some extent according to datamined credits from the demo

 

[ILikeFeet]

There's a game coming out in a few weeks that Tri-Ace did contract work on

Spoiler

They worked on Pikmin 4 to some extent according to datamined credits from the demo

probably just a handful of people doing asset work

 

[fiendcode]

For all the Nintendo contracting they get, you'd think tri-Ace might try supporting a Nintendo platform themselves some time?

 

[KR_EP]

Husbandry ahead of the Financial Year Report (July 2022 - June 2023) tidying up the broken links from the swanky new Wit One website. But first let us all come together to pour one out for our dearly departed, delinquent adult prank rpg. However we can at least pay our last Press F for Respects to the sound of its Hype as Fuck OST which has been uploaded for posterity.

[Important] Notice of Service Termination​

Thank you very much for using "Dachimen Densetsu G".

We would like to inform you that the service of "Dachimen Densetsu G" will end on August 28, 2023 (Monday) at 15:00.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who have patronized our service.​

Dachimen Densetsu G
May 16 - August 28, 2023​

There's a game coming out in a few weeks that Tri-Ace did contract work on

Spoiler

They worked on Pikmin 4 to some extent according to datamined credits from the demo

probably just a handful of people doing asset work

For all the Nintendo contracting they get, you'd think tri-Ace might try supporting a Nintendo platform themselves some time?

It would be a very good idea for tri-Ace to get its new & improved ASKA Engine running on Nintendo hardware. Resonance of Fate would be a good candidate for porting in time for the launch of Switch 2. Worth noting that NJ Holdings IR were kind enough to reply to me after my last post however they don't provide specific breakdowns for group companies like tri-Ace.

NJ Highlights
Game Studio
​

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai details character battle styles; 16 minutes of gameplay (Gematsu). Synduality: Echo of Ada still in development, anime is on Disney+.

Following last year, we will exhibit at the 6th Working Kids Adventure, a work experience event. (Game Studio)
This is a job experience event where children can think about their future selves and cultivate their zest for life by experiencing the occupations of people who work in the city.

Participants who find a job and experience the occupation can earn wages (simulated currency) at the Children's Bank, which can be exchanged for sweets and other items at the Kids' Store.

Child labour to fill Japan job shortages confirmed! Infinity Strash briefly entered the COMG! pre-order charts but has fallen away, shall have to see if it picks up sooner to its global launch.

Techflag​

"TeleGuru", a time and attendance integration service, now supports KING OF TIME in addition to TeamSpirit, and Teams in addition to Slack as a business chat tool. (Tech Flag) - August 1, 2023

What better way to foster Team Spirit than to spy on your staff in the discomfort of their own homes. KING OF ALL TIME HAS COME AND SO HAVE I, FOR AS FORETOLD IT HAS BEGUN.

tri-Ace​

All Quiet on the Weeb Front... but here's the CESA sales figures & some interviews to keep you occupied. Note: both Game Studio & tri-Ace ended 2024 graduate hirings last week.

CESA 2023 White Paper​

Past International Million Shipment Series(Domestic+Overseas):
Star Ocean - 6.2m
Valkyrie Profile - 2.6m

Past Domestic million shipment series:
Star Ocean - 3.2m
Valkyrie Profile - 1.6m
Star Ocean 6.2 - 3.2 = 3 million internationally, Valkyrie Profile 2.6 - 1.6 = a mere 1 million - many thanks to @CeroG1 for providing the latest sales numbers here.

Debating the world of Japanese RPGs with Star Ocean 5’s* Shuichi Kobayashi by Alex Donaldson on 20 June, 2016 *Square Enix producer Shuichi Kobayashi
"The reason we chose the period we have for 5 - which is between 2 and 3 - is really nothing to do with the reception to 4. It's to do with the ongoing telling of the story. In order to tell the stories in the future after the end of 3, which is the latest in the timeline, we felt there were a number of important events and pieces of information we needed to show to players and fans so that they'll be able to follow what comes after," he explains.
"I'm very interested myself to see the Star Ocean series story play out, and to make it. Telling up to the events at the end of 3 and then really getting into how these events could be possible to happen; filling in the gaps there, continuing on - it's something I really want to see in the series.”

Star Ocean: Anamnesis Interview - A Look Into the Global Release by James Galizio on 11 July, 2018 (with Producer Takaaki Kai and Illustrator Akira “Akiman” Yasuda)

Wit One​

Aside from its redesigned website that provides a clearer picture on its various services (localisation, QA, UI design) here's an excerpt fun interview via DeepL Translation about the studio from a few years ago. Ties into recent mention to move staff around by NJ Holdings. Wonder it the Wit One Game Club are excited for Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising out November 30th.

Interview on the activities of the in-house game club at Wit One, Inc.​

Interview with Mr. Shimada, Representative of Wit One Game Club
--When did the Wit One Game Club start its activities?
It all started when the fighting game enthusiasts in our company got together and started playing Street Fighter 4. That would be about five years ago.
--Five years ago! That was before the term "e-sports" became popular. You wore uniforms at our R6S Corporate Exchange Games.
Around June 2019. Smatsuk! We decided to make the uniforms because we were going to participate in a Super Smash Bros. corporate exchange event called "Smash Bros.

In fact, I still have a few pieces of uniforms made for the club to share. It's hard to hurry up and give uniforms to the next player when there are so many events going on in a row.
-What kind of activities are you currently involved in?
About 4 or 5 people who like fighting games get together on Mondays, and on Thursdays we have a group of people who play Rocket League.
--So it is not always a large group like this?
Yes, we do. This time, we decided to call out to a wide range of Wit One employees, not just those who are normally active in video games, because we thought that a just-launched game like GranBlue Fantasy VS would be as fair as possible for everyone to enjoy playing together.

We would like to expand the scope of the game so that more employees can play the same game titles, not only with the same fixed number of members.

Therefore, we are planning opportunities like this one to allow more employees to participate.
-I felt that many of your employees are strong in fighting games, but you don't limit yourself to that, and you interact with a variety of game titles.
We have Rainbow Six Siege, which we recently participated in, and tomorrow (2/8) we will participate in an event called "DFC Dead by Daylight Tournament vol. 5.

Some other employees are actively playing board games. These employees also participate in board game exchange meetings outside the company and use board games to expand communication across departments within Wit One.

 

[Celestial]

So @KR_EP do you think Square Enix' statement that they will focus on more AAA and less AA impacts any contract work with tri-ace?

I'm still surprised that they have so many employees still and that NJ Holdings do have 4 console projects in the pipeline (+1 since Star Ocean 6 released). My bias reading into everything does mean

Also, Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile got a collaboration with Last Cloudia, not sure if this means anything going forward (also the fact that the SO2 remake is coming out later this year).

 

[KR_EP]

So @KR_EP do you think Square Enix' statement that they will focus on more AAA and less AA impacts any contract work with tri-ace?

Good question, topic came up recently in the Financial Results Square Enix "hoped for more" from Final Fantasy 16 sales, expensed all costs in FY24 Q1 so future sales will all be profits thread.

Spoiler: Relevant Passage

I'm not sure about Star Ocean, we'll see how the remake of 2 does but I would bet SO6 was probably their most expensive game last year and didn't give the results to back it up.

With regards to Star Ocean The Divine Force, tri-Ace parent company NJ Holdings will publish its Financial Report for the year ending June 30, 2023 next Monday so we'll see if anything is mentioned directly or in passing about its sales performance. While there is no mention of Square Enix or any other publisher, they did report cancelled project(s) that caused a second downward revision as it's scuppered plans in its initial forecast to secure project(s) in the second half of its financial year. That is something to consider, what impact will a decision by Square Enix that leads to fewer 'mid-budget' console/PC titles have on a myriad of contract studios that worked for the publisher these past two financial years (April 2021 - present)...

Spoiler: NJ Holdings

Most Recent Title for Square Enix: [PS4/PS5/XB1/XBS/Steam] Star Ocean: The Divine Force (tri-Ace)
Current Project(s) with Square Enix: [NSW/PS4/PS5/XBS/Steam] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Game Studio/Kai Graphics) {2023.09.27}
Impact on Business: Major
Reason: Star Ocean: The Divine Force sales. Cancelled project(s) in past financial year. No confirmed title for tri-Ace & Square Enix hired other companies for Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile.

Thoughts? Note these are my (hot) takes based on information readily available, bearing in mind they could always be working on unannounced titles for Square Enix or may end up doing support work on any new 'AAA' projects greenlit by Square Enix in the years to come. Much harder to work out for privately owned companies but here's a summary from the current Financial Year:
Gemdrops (Star Ocean The Second Story R) - title has greater sales potential than recent mainline entries, company has multiple contracts plus it also has a self-publishing division.

I'm still surprised that they have so many employees still and that NJ Holdings do have 4 console projects in the pipeline (+1 since Star Ocean 6 released). My bias reading into everything does mean

Depends on what how many were hired by each group company, what they're going to be working on & how often staff move around the various group companies. Could be routine annual hires went ahead based on earlier forecasts & before project(s) were cancelled. Staff numbers for every subsidiary have not been updated yet. No idea! Publicly listed businesses in Japan (private ones too) retaining staff can be problematic however it's far preferable to North American & European firms sacking large numbers of people for no fault of their own.

Typical hiring scenario​

*Subject to change
Hiring Numbers - Approximately 11-15 people a year

Source: RECRUIT tri-Ace Inc.

August​

2023.08.28 Financial Results Briefing for Analysts (Japan Securities Analysts Association, 13:30~ @ Kabuto 3). Zoom presentation based on FY6/2023 supplemental material, followed by Q&A. Details TBC.

September​

2023.09.21 - 2023.09.22 Tokyo Game Show 2023 Business Days. Game Studio & tri-Ace are not on the Exhibitor Showroom list, however Wit One is at the Business Meeting Area (Exhibit Information PDF).
2023.09.26 The 32nd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. As the share price has fallen since the 2nd downward revision, including again today, incumbent on management to restore investor confidence.

October​

2023.10.01 - 2023.10.31 Famitsu Weekly Top 30 sales numbers, PSN & eShop store listings & Steam CCUs for Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai.

November​

2023.11.01 - 2023.11.30 Q1 FY6/2024 (July 2023 - September 2023) Financial Results. Due in the first half of the month (last year was 11th November) will have latest staff count & games in development.

December​

2023.12.01 - 2023.12.31 Synduality: Echo of Ada released before end of 2023 or delayed until 2024.

Here's what I would consider to be the Key Events for the remainder of 2023. To answer your question, its ok to wonder about the future of NJ Holdings when its own IR report mentions short term loans & cash in hand (posted DeepL Translation of Consolidated Financial Results for the Year Ended June 30, 2023, pages 12 & 13 in the NJ Holdings FY6/2023 thread). But don't worry, be happy. Former staff already set up Gemdrops & secured contracts with Square Enix to work on Star Ocean. Let's say, worst came to worst, everything at NJ Holdings, including tri-Ace went kaput, any IP owned by NJ Holdings could be sold & staff hired. Nothing stopping key staff joining Gemdrops or founding a new start up. Always look on the bright side of life.

Also, Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile got a collaboration with Last Cloudia, not sure if this means anything going forward (also the fact that the SO2 remake is coming out later this year).

Yeah I saw but wasn't sure if I should add Last Cloudia unless tri-Ace were involved. No matter, details below, enjoy the Valkyrie Profile inspired key art & sprites, ignore the gacha! While our three aces have been quiet, too quiet for your comfort, NJ Holdings has not so as I wait for its head of IR to respond, I'll end with a round up of the latest from Game Studio & Wit One.

Last Cloudia TV Collab Special: VALKYRIE PROFILE™: LENNETH and STAR OCEAN™ THE SECOND STORY R™
August 24, 2023 - September 28, 2023​

NJ Highlights
Game Studio​

2023.08.24 - Aiming Inc. has released "Battle Chronicle", a game we helped develop. (Game Studio)​

A tale spun by many adventurers, this is the Battle Chronicle of Gods and Men!​

[iOS/Android/Windows] Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? FAMILIA MYTH Battle Chronicle {2024.08.24}
1 million users pre-registered ...
©Fujino Omori-SB Creative Corp./Danmachi4 Project​

Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai | Gameplay Overview Trailer
English language narrator having the time of his life, going full Ham taking Dai onto another Evil Zone level!​

Announcing specifications for the Steam edition and Steam Deck Verification!​

Announcing specs for the Steam edition of Infinity Strash DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai and Steam Deck Verification.
Infinity Strash DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai producer Takumi Kasai here.

We have just released the required specifications for the PC version of the game.

We definitely wanted this game to be played by existing DRAGON QUEST series and Adventure of Dai fans, but also by many other gamers out there who may never have tried a DRAGON QUEST game before. This desire led us to develop the game so that as many people from as many countries and with as broad a range of hardware setups as possible will be able to play and enjoy it.

As a fan of the animated series myself, I applied all the ingenuity I could muster to making sure the game allowed players to follow and experience the wonderful story of Dai, the numerous friends and foes he meets along the way and how he grows as a person, in the best way possible. I very much look forward to seeing how all the players enjoy the many famous battles and story scenes we have lovingly re-created.

In addition to being able to re-live the story from The Adventure of Dai, the game also includes another mode called the Temple of Recollection that has rogue-like elements. This mode was mainly intended as a way to train up so you could overcome setbacks in the main story, but also offers a wealth of exciting content and challenges for an outstanding standalone gameplay experience. I would be delighted to see gamers who aren’t familiar with the original comic or animated series but who are fans of the rogue-like (light) genre giving Infinity Strash a go. I think you will have a lot of fun!

That covers the overall content of the game, but as I mentioned at the top, we have made the PC edition to allow as many people with as many PC setups as possible to play it. It depends on the specific specifications, but we have strived to make the game smooth and comfortable to play. I am confident that Infinity Strash is a title that will be enjoyed by PC gamers who have heard of DRAGON QUEST and The Adventure of Dai before, as well as those who are seeing it for the first time, so I invite you to try it out, whoever you are!

We are working hard on various preparations for the launch of the game, so please hold on just a little longer for it and watch out for further information!

Infinity Strash DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai
Producer Takumi Kasai​

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest Producer Would Like to Make a Sequel to Cover Second Half of the Story.​

"I definitely would like to do it.”
Hopefully the full exchange at Gamescom will be published by Techraptor in the near future.​

Wit One​

2023.08.17 "Idol Land Pripara", for which we are in charge of development support and operation, has been released by Takara Tomy Arts Inc. (Wit One)​

[iOS/Android] Idol Land Pripara {2024.08.17}
Idol Land Pripara opens today!
© T-ARTS / syn Sophia / ILPP​

Everyone is a friend! Everyone is an idol!
Idol Land Pripara opens today!
Sing, dance, and dress up! Make lots of memories with your friends!
Let's enjoy a wonderful idol life!​

2023.08.25 - We will exhibit "EasIS" at the Business Solution Corner (03-N18) on the Business Day of Tokyo Game Show 2023. (Wit One)​

Created by humans and AI.​

Aegis, an information service that combines accuracy and immediacy.
What is Aegis?
Aegis, the shield of the goddess Athena, is said to have the ability to ward off all kinds of evil and misfortune.
Aegis, the shield of the goddess Athena.
Aegis, the shield of the goddess Athena, is used to quickly make decisions such as launching an attack.
Aegis, a system installed on Aegis ships.
A protective gear that detects all kinds of problems before they occur.
A weapon that enables decisions to launch an offensive.​

HEAVY PITCH!​

Aegis is a word coined to protect the value of a company's existence by combining "easy," which means "easy to handle," and "is," which means "information exists."

"EasIS" was born as a coined word to protect the existence value of a company.​

HEAVY PLAN!​

 

[KR_EP]

NJ Holdings
19 (consolidated 922) (as of June 30, 2023)
Game Studio
270 (September 2023)
tri-Ace*
182 (as of July 1, 2022)
Wit One
304 (as of June 30, 2022)
Wit One Okinawa
105 (as of September 30, 2023)
Tech Flag
18 (as of January, 2023)

*tri-Ace myNavi2024 180 employees (126 male, 54 female) (as of September 2022)
Game Studio is down 8 from 278 as of June 30, 2023
Wit One Okinawa is down 4, from 109 as of May 31, 2023​

Staff could be moving around internally or it could be part of a trend, hard to really tell with different cut off points & no myNavi2025 pages (yet) to cross-reference. Shall read & (pretend to) understand the Annual Securities report (all 106 pages of it) ahead of the Q1 Financial Report for FY6/24 covering July - September due mid-November to see if more details emerge.

01/09/23 - Announcement of Reaching the Top Sales No. 13
04/09/23 - Announcement of Over 1 Million Downloads Worldwide (plus announcement of PS4/PS5 versions, due in 2024).
12/09/23 - Announcement of Over 2 Million Downloads Worldwide
10/10/23 - 3 Million Downloads Celebration Gacha is Live!

ダンまち バトル・クロニクルがリリース1ヵ月で世界収益800万ドルを突破、モバイルゲームコラボとしても強力なダンまち

2023年8月にリリースされた新作モバイルゲーム『ダンまち バトル・クロニクル』が好調な滑り出しを見せました。日本で人気のIP『ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか』を活用したアクションRPGの本作は、リリース1ヵ月で世界収益800万ドル以上を達成しています。

sensortower.com

Danmachi Battle Chronicle hits $8 million in a month. It made 80% of Aiming's revenue for September (with The Eminence in Shadow composing most of the remainder). They also mention the previous Danmachi game, Danmachi Memoria Freese, has reached $170 million as of August 2023.

Good find. Game Studio worked on the game, NJ Holdings advised it continues providing Operation Support for the iOS/Android but isn't the contracted developer for the PS4/PS5 ports.

Spoiler: Faustian Familia

3 Million Downloads Celebration Pack 2-Types Now Available for a Limited Time!
　10/10 12:00 – 10/24 12:00 (UTC+9)
Thank you for continuously enjoying “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Battle Chronicle.”​

There are two types of packs available: a pack that allows you to acquire 10 tickets of the 3 Million Downloads Celebration Gacha Ticket, and another that provides character upgrade materials like the Mystical Falna and All-Encompassing Falna.

Both of them offer great value, so be sure to check them out.​

• The period and contents are subject to change without notice.
• Packages may be resold after the sale period ends.
• You can purchase up to the stated limit per account. Even if you change the platform you log in to, you cannot purchase more than the upper limit.
• Please check the Shop for details on sales prices and content.
• Great Value? Gacha Great Value! You've got your digital trinkets but your soul is mine! There, there, don't feel so hard done buy, please enjoy some Potato Poppers for your eternal damnation troubles...its on the Devil's House.

3 Million Downloads Celebration Potato Poppers Login Bonus​

It’s a login bonus where you can obtain 5 Potato Poppers (S) every day.
Take this opportunity to log in daily and enjoy playing “DanChro” to your heart’s content!

The following are the contents of the Login Bonus:

Day 1: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 2: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 3: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 4: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 5: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 6: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 7: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 8: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 9: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 10: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 11: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 12: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 13: Potato Popper (S) x5
Day 14: Potato Popper (S) x5

We hope for your continued support of “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Battle Chronicle.”​

[NSW/PS4/PS5/XBS/Steam] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Game Studio/Kai Graphics/Square Enix) {2023.09.28} ​

The legendary DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai manga and anime arrives as an exhilarating action RPG!

Relive the events of the anime in INFINITY STRASH as you take charge of Dai and the Disciples of Avan in their battle against the Dark Army!​

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai details Story Mode beginnings ...​

An Isolated Island in the South Sea called “Dermline Island”—The Adventure of Dai Begins Here
The encounter with Avan, the hero who once saved the world, the arrival of Hadlar, who would later become a sworn enemy, and an awakening as a Dragon Knight.

The story of Dai, a boy who aspires to become a hero, begins with his many experiences on Dermline Island!​

Tom (Dai) Brady - Let's fucking goooooooo-oh​

Famitsu Sales: Week 40, 2023 (Sep 25 - Oct 01)
02./00. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 24.367 / NEW <40-60%>
13./00. [PS5] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 9.222 / NEW <40-60%>
19./00. [PS4] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 5.255 / NEW <20-40%>

Spoiler: DAI DATA

Platform	FW	Sell-through	Estimated shipmets	Estimated stock
Switch	24,367	40-60%	40,612~60,918	16,245~36,551
PS5	9,222	40-60%	15,370~23,055	6,148~13,833
PS4	5,255	20-40%	13,138~26,275	7,883~21,020
Total	38,844		69,119~110,248	30,275~71,404

Thanks @Hartmann for doing the DAI DECENT thing & putting together these opening week sales & shipment charts.

Famitsu Sales: Week 41, 2023 (Oct 02 - Oct 08)
15./02. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 4.573 / 28.940 <40-60%> (-81%)
30./04. [PS5] Ys X: Nordics # <RPG> (Nihon Falcom) {2023.09.28} (¥7.800) - 2.148 / 20.711 <80-100%> (-88%)
00./13. [PS5] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) ????<2,148
00./19. [PS4] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) ????<2,148

First Shipment Estimate: 48,233 - 60,918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 19,273 - 31,978

Famitsu Sales: Week 42, 2023 (Oct 09 - Oct 15)
24./15. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 2.070 / 31.010 <40-60%> (-55%)

First Shipment Estimate: 51,683 - 60,918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 20,673 - 29,908
[NSW] 31,010 + [PS5] 9,222 + [PS4] 5,255 = 45,487 Total (so far, so good...stay on target.gif)

This (Dai) Deal gets worse every time. But wait, here's the comic relief, as presided over by DAI 2 DESTORYER @Lelouch0612 whose DAI DEBACLE sales predictions prove DAI DEBAUCHERY of UnBased InstallBase Urchins. My understanding is the contracted development team at Game Studio has dispersed so major post-launch support is highly unlikely too.

Oricon Sales: Week 40 (Sep. 25 - Oct. 01)
03./00. - Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai Aban-ryuu Gokui no Sho (Shueisha) {09.2023} [1,650 Yen] - 2,447 / NEW

Oricon Sales: Week 41 (Oct. 02 - Oct. 08)
06./03. - Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai Aban-ryuu Gokui no Sho (Shueisha) {09.2023} [1,650 Yen] - 933 / 3,380

Oricon Sales: Week 42, 2023 (Oct. 09 - Oct. 15, 2023)
12./06. – Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai Aban-ryuu Gokui no Sho (Shueisha) {09.2023} [1,650 Yen] – 441 / 3,821

45,487/3,821 = 1/12 known retail owners bought a cheat guide - ya'll accomplished nothing! Merci beaucoup to @rouk & @Lite_Agent for the publishing presence of mind to compile these figures (Week 41 & 42 posts found here & there). Right so I'm going to cast The Last (Dai) Detail into Room 101, unless it's mentioned by NJ Holdings in its Financial Reports. Otherwise we keep on keeping on NJ Hoop Dreaming of a better day. Onwards & upwards (downwards?) to Synduality: Echo of Ada...tbc. But first, here's the promised tri-Ace goodies.

Spoiler: Infinite Storage

Trailer // Game Overview // Launches this Fall Worldwide // Dragon Quest series chief producer Ryutaro Ichimura leaves Square Enix // Worldwide launch date September 28.
Temple of Recollection, Challenge Mode // Dark King Vearn boss battle (Special Announcement at TGS 2023! English live translation with time stamp for King Vearn megaton reveal).

The Adventure of Dai pre-launch report from TGS & news regarding game function.
With Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai available very soon, we would also like to communicate how specific features of the PC version function on certain hardware.

In a limited number of user environments, some customers may experience an issue where the game screen will briefly stutter (a temporary drop in the frame-rate) when using spells or abilities during play for the first time.

This issue occurs due to the special effects for spells or abilities that have not yet been used taking a moment to load during a quest. However, you can be reassured that after such a spell or ability has been used once, it will create a cache and any previously experienced frame drops will become much less likely from then on.

Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai is just around the corner, and we invite everyone to join Dai and friends on their big adventure!
Shader Compilation Stutter rears its big, fat, powered by UNREAL ENGINE ugly head. Fix it, fix it.gif.
Update: Hahahaha, no.gif *laser shader stutter* My eyes the googles do nothing.gif

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (2020 - 2022) - 101 episodes, initial plan to release the game during its TV airing until covid / hell / reboot, led to its extended development? No idea. Ah!

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII's combat system | Why I Love

Worldless game director Joel Roset breaks down ingenious design in an oft-overlooked installment of the RPG franchise
There's no shortage of good combat systems out there, but Lightning Returns really stood out to me as a reference point for how to merge tactics and action, with its wide variety of attacks, defensive maneuvers, and timing-based bonuses.

Of course we wanted to make something unique and special with Worldless, not just copy good ideas, so all the specific combat mechanics are decidedly different from Lightning Returns. Yet it was Lightning Returns that created such an original template, one that really avoided the pitfalls I'd usually find in RPGs and action games of its time (and even today).

Ok-ok so I haven't got anything new about tri-Ace. H-h-hey now, I do ask, but don't want to push it, especially as they'rekind enough to answer questions with (some) real answers. Plus I've offered constructive feedback on things like Steam Early Access, crowdfunding & pointed them in the right (Digital Foundry) direction on PC features, including pre-shader compilation for any future titles. Still that bait & switch, wasn't fair, so although its more archival stuff, here's also a MCM London panel & interview for the Gemdrops developed remake...

Spoiler: tri-Ace trumpets

Motoi Sakuraba Interview: Diverse New Projects​

Don Kotowski: Darker orchestrations were also featured on several of your recent soundtracks for tri-Ace, Infinite Undiscovery, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Given your background as a progressive rock musician, how did you develop expertise as a symphonist? Would you agree that your tri-Ace works have been the driving point for your development in this area?

Motoi Sakuraba: As the capabilities of game systems increased, the amount of game music aspiring to an orchestral sound rose as well. I came to writing orchestral music in order to meet that need. I was not raised on classical, so I failed a number of times while learning. I am entirely self-taught, and I know next to nothing about music theory and the like.

In my projects for tri-Ace I have often used a live orchestra, I think I have learned a lot in the process of writing those scores. But my work with tri-Ace was not the only source of my development; the Tales series and other games have helped as well.

Don Kotowski: Among your upcoming works (note: interview published December 15, 2011), tri-Ace’s Beyond the Labyrinth is set for release early next year. Given the game is a bit different from the normal games you compose, being a first person dungeon crawler, what sort of musical styles can we look forward to hearing? Would you like to compose further scores outside the RPG genre in the future?

Motoi Sakuraba: I decided that the kind of music I had been writing until now would not fit the world and the first person perspective of Beyond the Labyrinth. I focused on synth sounds to express the transparent yet cramped and somewhat gloomy environment. In the battles, I went for a less harsh feel, rather than my usual rock, for a more typical game music sound. Overall, you could say the score has a kind of dark sheen.

Spoiler: LATE (EARLY) EDIT

LATE (EARLY) EDIT
'Star Ocean The Second Story R will also be showcased at the event too, as announced in a follow-up tweet, with players able to find it on the gaming bus in the South Hall.'
(Time Extension: Star Ocean Devs To Give Special Panel At MCM Comic Con London)
​

In anticipation of the upcoming release of Star Ocean The Second Story R, join developers Yuichiro Kitao, Kei Komaki and Yukihiro Kajimoto for a panel!
Live Stage Fri 27 Oct 12:15PM
Included in tickets
Buy MCM tickets: https://bit.ly/41iXo3F​

​

Feature: "JRPG Isn't Just One Blanket Kind Of Game" - Star Ocean: The Second Story Returns 25 Years Later
Interview with Yuichiro Kitao & Motoi Sakuraba.​

“There are various ways to get involved, not just in battle, but with things that the player does on the field, too. We were able to come up with this new system of achievements [in the remake] and also retain the better parts – the fun parts – of the achievement system in Star Ocean 3.” - Yuichiro Kitao

“When I write music, I make sure the music is in sync with the frame rate, the overall movement of the video,” Sakuraba says. “So I also have the team share the cutscenes with me prior to composing these tracks and I go by the frame rate of these cutscenes and make sure that the tracks are aligned frame by frame with the overall structure of the footage.” - Motoi Sakuraba.

 

[KR_EP]

Know you're all as excited as me for the Synduality: Echo of Ada playable event taking place right now but shut your Goddamn Mouth & show some Goddamn Respect for the fingger fallen:

株式会社トライエース
tri-Ace

"fingger" You will be the one of historical witness of the next-generation game distribution platform--
Failed to open page
Brave to the Grave (*tentative)
Viewer comments have a magical effect!?
A super challenging action game brought to you by tri-Ace on the next-generation game streaming platform “fingger”!
Free to Play (Japan only).

August 03, 2022 - May 31, 2023*
*date of fingger Beta was discontinued with plans to return. After a false dawn the company announced it had dissolved (in acid!?) as of November 24, 2023*​

Spoiler: Make that December 22, 2023

The "fingger" platform is scheduled to close completely on December 22, 2023. After the closure, access to the site will be completely suspended. (Automaton Media) Not sure how you survive another month after formally announcing the dissolution of the company but hey, finggers work in mysterious ways. As for its official (non youtube) account confirming the news:

Notice of Cancellation of Renewal Development (you'll just have to trust me this is what it said)
Due to various circumstances, we have decided to cancel the development of "fingger", which was scheduled to be renewed in the fall of 2023.

We would like to apologize to all those who have been waiting for the renewal of "fingger" and express our sincere appreciation for your support.

Spoiler: Hans Solo Players are Soon to Death Brave

fingger（フィンガー）のコンテンツ『すぐ死ぬ勇者』にソロプレイ実装！！
〜”激ムズ”アクションゲームがひとりでも遊べる！〜
株式会社fingger
2023年1月10日 12時00分
Solo play is implemented in the "Soon-to-Death Brave" content on fingger!
〜You can play the "hardest" action game by yourself! ~ (Japanese only)
FINGER Inc.
January 10, 2023, 12:00 PM

​

Brave to the Grave tops Babylon's Fall in the Guinness Book of Record for world's most ominous game title. Unless the rights have reverted back to developers, including tri-Ace to port/redesign for other platforms, we'll never bear historical Witness to the fingger Fitness what the game was like to play or what mischief I'd have gotten up to in a jam-packed totally globally saturated livestream with all my fans playing alone all by myself but we can always visit fingger OFFICIAL & ponder what could have been. Oh what could have been. Speaking of games you'll never get to play, here's Star Ocean 5 producer on what Star Ocean 3 could have been if only Yoshiharu Gotanda had been given the Key(blade)s to the Kingdom (Hearts)...

Shuichi Kobayashi – Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness​

Mollie L. Patterson: I’ve had at least a few arguments about the game’s [Star Ocean 3] ending, because a lot of the people I’ve met definitely didn’t like it. I thought it was an interesting twist, and that can be hard to do in games where it’s often so easy to predict what’s going to happen. So, it both took me by surprise, and left me wondering about the implications.
Shuichi Kobayashi: Unfortunately, we actually had to cut a lot of stuff from the end of Star Ocean 3, and that’s part of the reason why it turned out how it did. [laughs] I’ve seen a lot of players that were angry that it turned out to be sort of like a network game. It’s actually not, it’s just because we had to cut off development. There’s a lot of philosophical elements in there, and a lot of things that you could interpret in many ways. Gotanda-San actually has an idea for a story that goes beyond what we attempted in Star Ocean 3. This is something that he’s been saying to Japanese media as well, but he already has an idea of what he wants to do. So, it’ll be very interesting if we have the chance to move forward with the series, and hopefully have the chance to get some of those ideas out into the world.

Very enjoyable interview by the ever awesome Mollie L. Patterson - now if you'll excuse me if I go crawl into bed, curl up in a ball & cry it out. Speaking of getting screwed by Square Enix...

株式会社ゲームスタジオ
Game Studio
Outline of Financial Results Briefing by SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS held on Nov. 7, 2023​

Q: My impression is that the market’s reaction to “Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai” has been harsh. What is your take on it internally? You mentioned that you intend to transition from a product-oriented approach to a market-oriented approach. Can we expect better quality to result from a narrowing in the gap between what the market and your customers expect versus what you are delivering?
A: We have received harsh feedback from customers on “Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai,” and we also acknowledge that problems exist. We think that the time that elapsed between the anime’s broadcast and the game’s release, as well as the gap between what customers expected from the content versus the game elements that we focused on as the title’s selling points, also contributed to the feedback that we received. In terms of switching from a product-oriented to a market-oriented development approach, I would note that in the case of our smart device games, we have begun to reflect feedback from customers that have played titles ahead of their releases into our development process. We are also working to put mechanisms in place that allow us to incorporate customer feedback on HD games in the initial stages of development.

Product to Market (wat.gif). Just back the damn Game (Studio) all the way! Here's your feedback - free on the House of Mouse. Don't change genre mid-stream, use still frames when the in-game cut scenes are Kai Graphics quality or end midway through the source material without announcing plans for an expansion pack or sequel. Is it time for Game Studio to go Hans Solo?

Spoiler: Infinity Sales Recap

Famitsu Sales: Week 40, 2023 (Sep 25 - Oct 01)
02./00. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 24.367 / NEW <40-60%>
13./00. [PS5] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 9.222 / NEW <40-60%>
19./00. [PS4] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 5.255 / NEW <20-40%>

Platform	FW	Sell-through	Estimated shipmets	Estimated stock
Switch	24,367	40-60%	40,612~60,918	16,245~36,551
PS5	9,222	40-60%	15,370~23,055	6,148~13,833
PS4	5,255	20-40%	13,138~26,275	7,883~21,020
Total	38,844		69,119~110,248	30,275~71,404

Thanks @Hartmann for doing the DAI DECENT thing & putting together these opening week sales & shipment charts.

Famitsu Sales: Week 41, 2023 (Oct 02 - Oct 08)
15./02. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 4.573 / 28.940 <40-60%> (-81%)
30./04. [PS5] Ys X: Nordics # <RPG> (Nihon Falcom) {2023.09.28} (¥7.800) - 2.148 / 20.711 <80-100%> (-88%)
00./13. [PS5] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) ????<2,148
00./19. [PS4] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) ????<2,148

First Shipment Estimate: 48,233 - 60,918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 19,273 - 31,978
[NSW] 28,940 + [PS5] 9,222 + [PS4] 5,255 = 43,417 Total (it can be done, but only I can sell through it)

Famitsu Sales: Week 42, 2023 (Oct 09 - Oct 15)
24./15. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 2.070 / 31.010 <40-60%> (-55%)

First Shipment Estimate: 51,683 - 60,918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 20,673 - 29,908
[NSW] 31,010 + [PS5] 9,222 + [PS4] 5,255 = 45,487 Total (so far, so good...stay on target.gif)

Famitsu Sales: Week 43, 2023 (Oct 16 - Oct 22)
28./24. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 1.388 / 32.398 <40-60%> (-33%)

First Shipment Estimate: 53.997 - 60.918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 21,599 - 29,908
[NSW] 32,398 + [PS5] 9,222 + [PS4] 5,255 = 46,875 Total (I can't shake 'em....yaaaaah.gif)
Famitsu Top 100 CY2023
82./00. [NSW] Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai <RPG> (Square Enix) {2023.09.28} (¥6.800) - 41.982 / NEW
41,982 - 32,398 = 9,584 means that many additional Dragon Quest Adventurers climbed aboard the Infinity Train between Weeks 44 - 53.
First Shipment Estimate: 53.997 - 60.918
Estimated Unsold Stock: 21,599 - 29,908 - 9,584 = 12,015 - 20,324
[NSW] 41,982 + [PS5] 9,222 + [PS4] 5,255 = 56,459 Total (we doin' it.gif)

Thanks to @Chris1964 for the Famitsu Sales Data.

Game Summit
[TBC] UNDERGROUNDED <ADV> (Game Studio) {xxxx.xx.xx}
​

A new game I'm working on debuted at BitSummit in Kyoto this week. It's called Undergrounded, from Game Studio Inc, also in Kyoto. Fantastic premise and art, and I'm writing pop and rock (among other things!) for it. It's been a blast so far. More news hopefully soon! (1/2)
So get this: It's about a guy who has had the worst day of his life after being turned down from a proposal. The freaking ring falls down into a street drain and down there is underground labyrinth lost things such as objects, feelings, and memories are uncovered. (2/2)​

The many-iest of thanks to @Fisico for being clutch as hell with the link!​

Spoiler: BitSummit ~The 8th Bit~

BitSummit ~The 8th Bit~ に潜入してきたのでゆるっとレポ！【おれんじびより】​

A loose recap of the BitSummit ~The 8th Bit~! Orenbiyo

（ゲーム画面撮りそびれたからポスターだけ…）
(I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the game screen, so just the poster...)
絵の雰囲気が好き（興味が惹かれるゲームは基本的に絵が好みと言っても過言ではない）。
画面の構成が好み。以上。と言いたいけどもうちょっと書く。
I like the atmosphere of the pictures (it is no exaggeration to say that I basically prefer the pictures of games that attract my interest).
I like the composition of the screen. That's all. I would like to say, "I like the atmosphere of the picture," but I'll write a little more.
縦に伸びていく画面にこだわったそうで、制作途中の現段階でも、このポスターより深い空間が既に出来上がっているそう。「レッドカーペットみたいにできたら楽しいですよね〜」と話していました。
The game is said to have focused on a screen that stretches vertically, and even at the current stage of production, a space deeper than this poster has already been created. He said, "It would be fun to make it look like a red carpet.
ショッピングモール、映画館…とアメリカの歴史を現代から、地下に下がっていくに連れ時間を遡って謎解きをしていく横スクロールならぬ縦スクロールゲーム。アメリカのポップカルチャー好きならクスッとできる要素が沢山散りばめられていました！（私はアメリカに住んでいたので、若干チート。）
This is not a side-scrolling game, but a vertical scrolling game, in which you solve riddles as you go back in time from the present day through shopping malls, movie theaters, and the history of the United States as you go underground. There are many elements scattered throughout the game that will make you giggle if you are a fan of American pop culture! (
I lived in the U.S., so I'm a bit of a cheat.)​

Spoiler: Press Coverage

We Unearthed Four Indie Gems in Japan at BitSummit 2021​

September 06, 2021 by Jacob Bukacek​

Undergrounded is a top-down adventure game with puzzle elements right out of the point-and-click adventure genre. Players step into the shoes of Scott, a basically average salaryman who just so happens to lose his engagement ring in the worst possible place: a massive underground labyrinth. Scott’s goal is simple: find his ring. Unfortunately for him, he’s probably going to have to get all the way through if he wants to actually find it.

Undergrounded’s labyrinth is the kind of place that could only exist in a video game. It’s not just a bunch of dark sewer caverns and such; it’s an 80’s mall connected to a movie theater connected to famous movie sets connected to who knows what all else. The very first floor contains all of these things and the developer plans on having at least six by the time Undergrounded launches. That’s okay, though, because trekking through this maze is actually rather fun. Scott runs into plenty of characters with interesting things to say and he has to make a lot of interesting things happen in order to progress.

For example, the demo tasks the player with unlocking a door, but to get the code, they need to play the right movie in the movie theater. To get the movie they have to find a bucket so that they can scare a chicken into laying an egg in it which flips a switch that triggers an automatic dog feeder to feed a nearby dog which causes it to get up and allow Scoot to pick up the film reel it was lying on (phew!).

Another challenge involves getting an electrically-charged bird to charge of the DeLorean from back to the future, which then crashes into the bird (or maybe transports it into the future) and clears the boss encounter for Scott, and this was all just in one section of one floor. Alongside this is an interesting isometric perspective dense pixel art mixed with hand-drawn characters and catchy music. It’s a great experience, but unfortunately it has no release window or presence on Steam yet.

Spoiler: New Project Announcement (Kyoto Kinda)

NEW PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT: UNDERGROUNDED​

September 21, 2021 by Dale Northhttp://www.dalenorthmusic.com/?author=5334e4a8e4b009cdbfa1ff3b​

'A new game I'm working on debuted at BitSummit in Kyoto this month. It's called Undergrounded, from Game Studio Inc, also in Kyoto. It has a fantastic premise and art, and I'm writing pop and rock (among other things!) for it. It's been a blast so far.

It's about a guy who has had the worst day of his life after being turned down from a marriage proposal. This is how bad his day gets: after that his ring falls down into a street drain. But down there is underground labyrinth where lost things such as objects, feelings, and memories are uncovered.

I hope to have more news to share later but for now enjoy this amazing artwork from the game.'

Spoiler: VERY BIG VERY COOL KEY ART

​

Spoiler: フリーランスゲームデザイナー (Freelance Game Designer)

Hiroshi Ogawa/Game Designer (@hiropon808) / X​

Biography
2002：デジタルクリエイターカレッジWAO
　　　　　MAYAエキスパートコース卒業
2002: Digital Creator College WAO
　Graduated from MAYA Expert Course
2003：IremSoftwareEngineering株式会社　入社
2003: Joined IremSoftwareEngineering Inc.
2006：株式会社SNK　入社
2006: Joined SNK Co.
2008：アバンテック株式会社　入社
2008: Joined Avantech Corporation
2014より独立・フリーランスのゲームデザイナー
2014: Independent and freelance game designer since 2014
Game Designer / -BACK TO THE BASIC- 808

【活動内容】
・ゲーム開発
・ゲーム関連のイベント主催
・ゲーム配信（ヒロあちゃGameTV）
　※チャンネル登録ぜひぜひお願いします
Activities
Game development
Game development ・Organizing game-related events
Game distribution (HIROACHA GameTV)
　Please subscribe to our channel!

幅広く活動させていただいております。
ゲーム関連でお困りごとあればお気軽にご連絡ください！
I am active in a wide range of activities.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any game-related problems!

Recent Work:
グランブルーファンタジー リリンクの開発にプランナーとして関わらさせていただきました。
I was involved in the development of Granblue Fantasy Relink as a planner.​

Spoiler: NEWGAME

Hiroshi Ogawa - not to be confused with all the other same namesakes, especially tri-Ace veteran Hiroshi Ogawa who directed Infinite Undiscovery & Star Ocean 5. At least I don't think so, not unless he also went back in time & somehow managed to have two careers at once! Or three if the ever not so reliable entries on mobygames are anything to go by...as its sole credit in R-Type Final lines up with his bio. No luck (yet) finding YT direct game footage, I can see the booth in the background but nobodies like Hideki Kamiya keep getting in the way!

Spoiler: Pictures from twitter user mopopo1578

Give it to me! If you made it this far, you're already dead but just to remind your future past self the 1H Q&A will be taking place February 26, 2024 & all my fingger will be on hand to report.

 

[KR_EP]

Geek Interview: ‘Synduality Echo of Ada’ Leans Into Final Fantasy, Star Wars, & Mechs (Thailand Game Show 2023)​

“The premise of the Magus being like a magic user came from FFVI, [which] was the first sci-fi game that I played when I was an elementary school student. For Zone of the Enders, I thought about having mecha forms for the AI operator,” director producer Yōsuke Futami

“We have elements of the same world; there are going to be scenes from the previous world that fell apart, and then there’s the world during the collapse. That’s the part I’d like to express for the game,” said Futami.

“I want to express different things for each platform – for example, the anime has different stories than the games. Despite being set in the same world, it works better in terms of conveying the animation and staging of movement, but for the game, it’s [more] about the action.”

[PS5/XBS/Steam] Synduality: Echo of Ada <ACT> (Game Studio/Bandai Namco Entertainment) {2024.xx.xx}​

SYNDUALITY takes place in 2222, years after a mysterious poisonous rain called
“The Tears of the New Moon”
wipe out most of humanity and birthed deformed creatures that now hunt the population.​

Spoiler: Game Synopsis

Amidst the calamity, humans are forced to build an underground haven named Amasia, where they discover and begin to collaborate with forms of artificial intelligence called Magus.

In the game, players will step in the shoes of the Drifters, people who make a living collecting AO crystals, a rare resource available on Earth. In this quest they must face xenomorphic creatures known as Enders, and they will be able to count on Magus, their AI partners, to guide them through their journey, help them in fights, and providing direction, hints, and warning.

All the while, they will be developing and strengthening the bond between player and AI. Gameplay and combat in SYNDUALITY centers around Cradle Coffins, armed vehicles in which the players will be roaming on the surface and can fully personalize, from appearance to weapon loadouts, to fit their own playstyle.

SYNDUALITY will also have multiplayer, with other Drifters joining players to help them in their missions or turn against them, hindering their progress or fighting to loot their precious resources.

Extraction Looter Shooter, Mecha Anime-Style​

Synduality Has An Intriguing Single-Player Mode​

Synduality: Echo of Ada Preview - A Promising New Anime-Style Mecha IP​

KR_EP said:
Bandai Namco does need to get a move on with ramping up the marketing for Echo of Ada.

They'd need to have a release date for that

I don't think they even have a launch window at the moment?

Speak of the [COFFINCRADLE] Devil! After a slow roll out starting back in State of Play 2022 & playable appearances at Tokyo Game Show 2023 plus a trio of Japan only Synduality: Echo of Ada playable events, most recently last month, it is time...for a Closed (but Open to Any & All to Register) Beta. Compiled various details in reverse order because we have to go mine loot deeper.

​

Get into your CRADLECOFFIN and join SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada’s Closed Beta​

SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, the PvPvE Extraction Shooter developed for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|Sand PC will get a Closed Beta Test (CBT) available from 28th March to 1st April on all platforms. Registration is available here: North America / Europe / Japan.

The closed beta test will include access to the following elements:

• Sortie
• Item Shop
• Requests / Bounties (limited)
• Base customization (limited)
• Magus customization (limited)
• Crafting

The brand-new Sci-Fi universe from Bandai Namco group.​

Spoiler: Mecha Memento

​

Discover more about SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada customisation is in this new trailer​

02/02/2024​

The game's new trailer goes on the various customisation and skills available for the Magus. Players can customise their Magus’ face and outfit, with plenty of options, to become their AI companion with whom they will create a bond fighting together on the battlefield. The CRADLECOFFIN will also be customisable, with various archetypes and weapons, letting players find the perfect match for their playstyle, with the right combination of Magus and CRADLECOFFIN.

​

Meet the prominent figures of SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada in a new trailer​

25/09/2023​

A new trailer for SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada is out, introducing the two suspects in the fall of the city of Amasia, their environment, and glimpses of gameplay.

“Learn how the underground haven of Amasia met its ruin. As players investigate, they’ll find snippets of the story between the Drifter Alba and his Magus, Ada, and how they were linked to Amasia’s fall. It also introduces the doctor Dothan Kuze who rescued Alba from Amasia’s captivity and connected him with Ada.”

​

Discover SYNDUALITY, the brand new sci-fi shooter from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment​

14/09/2022​

“SYNDUALITY is a project we can’t wait for players to put their hands-on,” said Yosuke Futami, Producer at Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. “We have been working with famous designers such as Neco for character design and Ippei Gyoubu for mechanical design, as well as the team at Game Studio to develop a fun shooter with strong core gameplay and a unique focus on the relationship between AI and human, where the bond that develops between players and their Magus impacts game play and story.”

Spoiler: Amasia Archives

Life-Sized Synduality Cradle Coffin and Sand Land Tank Shown at TGS 2023​

Preview: Synduality: Echo of Ada Focuses on Uneasy Alliances By DANIEL BUENO with Yohei Kataoka*, Director & Yosuke Futami, Producer

The multiplayer aspect of the game relies on no preset parties, and no verbal communication between players. Instead, players will have to create uneasy alliances with other players using emotes and other forms of non-verbal communication. While most players will be marked as friendlies, it is possible to choose to betray and attack them for their resources. While the risk of PvE-focused players encountering a lot of PvP players intent on grifting exists, Kataoka and Futami assured that there will be measures to balance the game out, such as your AI Magus partner warning you, and marking the map for hot spots, as well as a reputation system that marks aggressive players intent on PvP as untrustworthy or risky.

The Story Mode in Synduality: Echo of Ada will be Amasia Research, and will be PvE focused. In it, players will go through maps with specific preset loadouts for each mission. The player will explore the underground city of Amasia, and will uncover the mystery of what happened in the past to Drifter Alba Kuze and his Magus companion Ada. The developers said that Amasia Research and Online Raid are not fully disconnected, and that the story mode will be an extension of the online mode.

*wait is that THE Crispy Yohei Kataoka of Tokyo Jungle (in)fame or just some Regular Yohei of no fame.

Synduality: Echo of Ada May Be Too Ambitious for It's Own Good
by Richard Eisenbeis, Sep 20th 2023

‘The game contains two interconnected modes, one single-player and the other multiplayer. In the single-player, you embark on a quest to investigate the fall of humanity's subterranean paradise, Amasia, with a set mecha and gear. However, it is the other mode that is the true focus of the game.

Online Raid, as it is called, drops you and your AI partner into a massive map to gather crystals, scavenge whatever you can carry from the ruins of the old world, and unlock more single-player missions. The trick is that you are not alone—the surface is full of both monsters and other player-controlled mecha. And herein lies both the hook and the potential downfall of this game.’

Miscellaneous Magus:

• SYNDUALITY: Echo of Ada first hands-on previews, gameplay, and screenshots (Gematsu)
• Overview of Synduality News Before Release. Every Pre-release Gameplay Review, Video, and Interview

Spoiler: Game Stand

NEW PROJECT BEGINS - Synduality Mech Kits & Figurines - ANIME MODELS DUE JULY / AUGUST. GAME MODELS TBC.

Bandai Namco Filmworks
Synduality: Noir (Eight Bit) {2023.07.10}
Synduality: Noir - Project SYN PV // Teaser PV Vol.1 // Teaser PV Vol.2 //「SYNDUALITY Noir」本PV // TVアニメ「SYNDUALITY Noir」番宣CM／7月10日
(EMOTION Label Channel)​

• Director: Yūsuke Yamamoto (Encouragement of Climb, Aquarion Evol, Knight's & Magic)
• Original Story Concept: Hajime Kamoshida (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou)
• Series Script Supervisor: Takashi Aoshima (Himouto! Umaruchan, Mitsudomoe)
• Animation Character Design & Chief Animation Director: Kenichirō Katsura (Macross 7, Comic Party: Revolution)
• Production Design: Kō Inaba
• Legendary Design: Kazutaka Miyatake (Macross, Space Battleship Yamato)
• Art Director: Kenta Masuda
• Music: Masato Nakayama (22/7, We Never Learn: BOKUBEN)
• Animation Studio - 8bit
• Production Studio - Bandai Namco Filmworks / Bandai Spirits
• Original Network - TV Tokyo
• International Distribution - Disney+ July 2023 simulcast

'The franchise will also have a manga spinoff titled Synduality: Ellie, focusing on the titular character, which will launch in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Alive magazine. The manga will also have a novelization that will launch under Kadokawa's MF Bunko J label. The franchise will also have a separate novel spinoff "photo story" tentatively titled Synduality: Kaleido, which will launch in Hobby Japan's Monthly Hobby Japanmagazine.' .
Source: Synduality: Noir Anime's Video Reveals Opening Song, July Premiere With Disney+ Simulcast (AnimeNewsNetwork*)​

*Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
*Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

Synduality: Noir TV second cour airs January 8, 2024
The franchise also has Synduality: Ellie. a manga spinoff focusing on the titular character that launched in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Alive magazine on July 26. Hiroshi Mishima draws the manga. The manga has a novelization that is launching under Kadokawa's MF Bunko J label. The franchise has a separate novel spinoff "photo story" titled Synduality: Kaleido, which launched in Hobby Japan's Monthly Hobby Japan magazine on July 25.

Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.

Source: Comic Natalie​

Spoiler: NIER: ADA

Spoiler: Magus and the Forsaken Kingdom

​

 

[KR_EP]

​

『SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada』クローズドベータテスト振り返り公式ラジオ（2024年4月19日）​

“SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada” Closed Beta Test Review Official Radio (April 19, 2024)​

公式Discordサーバーにて、4月19日に行われた公式ラジオのアーカイブが公開

2024/3/28（木）～4/1（月）に実施されたクローズドβテスト（以降CBT）に関する
集計結果やアンケートへの回答を行う公式ラジオを配信いたしました。

■出演者：二見P、片岡Ｄ

The archive of the official radio broadcast held on April 19th has been released on the official Discord server.

Regarding the closed beta test (hereinafter referred to as CBT) conducted from March 28, 2024 (Thursday) to April 1, 2024 (Monday)
We have distributed an official radio channel that provides the results and answers to the questionnaire.

■Performers: Futami P, Kataoka D (via Google auto-translate)

The presentation runs for just under 40 minutes with slides presenting information on the closed beta test before going into a lengthy Q&A. It'd be great if BANDAI NAMCO translate it themselves but in the absence of that, any Japanese speakers wish to go over it & give us a brief overview of any useful information. Big ask but if anyone would that'd be SYN awesome.

​

A week to go until NJ Holdings published its Q3 FY6/24 covering January - March 2024. Not heard back from them in a SYN minute, but seeing as tri-Ace is catching strays from @Hero of Legend in the Garden of Multi-Madness discussion thread, can address that hot topic & then do a quick(ish) round up of all things Star Ocean. No IR news from NJ post-Square Enix cancellations but I have noticed that Wit One Okinawa has been seeing a sizeable reduction in staff from when it peaked at 109 (May 1, 2023) when it went up 3 from March 2023...

Wit One Okinawa
従業員数
Number of Employees​

99名（2024年1月現在）
88名（2024年3月現在）
80名（2024年4月現在）​

Other group companies haven't been updated but NJ provides an overall head count every 3 months but we're seeing at least one part of the company have a sizeable reduction in staff.

Can't be tech reasons when even today so called impossible ports keep happening and even ports of pre-gen games skip Switch (looking at you Tri-Ace with Resonance of Fate, etc.).

For what it's worth I did submit a question back in February for the 1H presentation. Hesitant to mention it to avoid being taken out of context as this is a sensitive issue but I'll trust users to be responsible. I submitted 10 questions of which 3 were answered during the call, the remainder by email including this one below), with that context - here's the question & answer.

1. International observers find it difficult to understand why Japanese third parties have not released more games on Nintendo Switch. Do you feel NJ Holdings has missed opportunities to release Switch titles (particularly tri-Ace) & if so, what steps will it take to ensure that all of its group companies release more titles on the forthcoming next generation hardware from Nintendo?

8) As for platforms, we are targeting the Steam market first. Gaming PCs tend to be more expensive than consoles, It is attractive to be able to offer them to PC owners all over the world. Next, we will consider releasing the game on consoles such as the Switch, but which platform we will use depends on the content of the game and its affinity with the user base. There is also the perspective of whether the gaming experience we want to provide can be realized with the specifications of Switch.

As for my thoughts, leading on PC is the right call & will feed into NJ Holdings nascent self publishing plans which I'll write up next week, promise! As for Switch, you saw I did ask directly about the platform & tri-Ace in particular. For me, it all depends on NJ Holdings having paid tri-Ace R&D staff to get the in-house ASKA engine up & running on Switch for a self-published title like Resonance of Fate. Without that insight, there's no way for us to know if it is viable & desirable to invest any further. If it was not ready at the point of the contract for SO6 being signed, then we get into the vexed debate on contract negotiations, whether or not a publisher like Square Enix would've been prepared to fund additional R&D to ensure a Switch version for contract work like Star Ocean: The Divine Force or if it expected NJ Holdings to pay for some or all R&D costs. Either way I'd like to see NJ Holdings invest in tri-Ace R&D to get ASKA Engine support on Switch 2.

While not directly related to NJ Holdings, noticed a lot of online shade (the worst kind of shade!) towards Square Enix producers & blind faith in an unproven CEO decision to cut unnamed, unannounced titles on the basis of subjective measurements of quality (why do people want titles being cancelled anyway, don't you play videogames --- no wait don't answer that!), here's a rebuttal. I'd say that Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a perfect example of why producers matter. Oh & note the mention of wanting to work on a new project together with Gemdrops.

Spoiler: In defence of Square Enix producers

Interview: Preparing Star Ocean The Second Story R for New Platforms​

Jenni Lada: How did the Star Ocean The Second Story R project get started?
Kei Komaki: This title was made in parallel with the development of Star Ocean: The Divine Force, to align with the 25th anniversary of Star Ocean The Second Story.

What kinds of assets and original development content did you have available when preparing Star Ocean The Second Story R?
Yuichiro Kitao: Since the materials that we had for the past title was from 25 years ago, they were not in a complete state and only contained fragments of information. Because of this, we had to compile the relevant documents and materials as we played through the original PS1 release and the PSP release. At the same time, we also analyzed the materials from the original release and repurposed contents. There were few existing designs and concept art to begin with, so a considerable amount was newly created or made upon referencing information digested from our playthroughs of the Star Ocean titles.

Now that the Star Ocean series is seeing a resurgence in popularity, what sorts of projects based on the property would you like to see next?
Kei Komaki: There isn’t a particular project that we can talk about right now, but during the MCM Comic Con, I did have a conversation with Gemdrops’ Yuichiro Kitao in the waiting room and talked about how we were both interested in working on a new project together. We’re also aware that there are vast sagas in the Star Ocean series that are yet to be told, so please do play Star Ocean The Second Story R and share your thoughts and feedback with Square Enix. That voice will surely lead to potential opportunities that bring about a new hero to the galaxy.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – A Message from Shuichi Kobayashi
‘This is the title that ended up being the most popular from the series in the West,’

Oh. Nevermind. Fire all producers. From a cannon. Into the SO3 canon Virtual Sun. Baka Gaijin too. Maybe it was a mistake for tri-Ace to consort with foreigners after all.​

 

[KR_EP]

Quickfire Round: Game Studio Edition a day before NJ Holdings publishes its Q3 FY6/24 results covering January 1 - March 31, 2024. Rest assured that shoji sex-god Sōta Fujii will report.

No Clues! No hints!
All you have are
your wits
and instincts!​

The Dai Has Been Cast & the [Mid-Boss] Evil has been defeated to consign Denuvo to the still frame history book. However the Main Big Bad that is UE4 Stutter remains in place. Forever.

Change U:46928559 last month · 26 March 2024 – 04:15:03 UTC

Removed 3rd-Party DRM – Denuvo Anti-tamper

Meanwhile the store page for Synduality: Echo of Ada was altered the day before to make it clearer the game is played online, but the game is still listed as single player. Message to Bandai Namco, this ain't Hard Sci-Fi rocket science!! Best announce the various modes the game includes, explaining if people can play offline plus online co-op without player invasions.

Change U:46897838 2 months ago · 25 March 2024 – 03:40:03 UTC

Changes Store Description

• In SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, players take on the role as Drifters and face off against xenomorphic creatures known as Enders, as well as other players' Drifters, while counting on their AI partners, Magus, to guide them through their journey. ›
• In this PvPvE extraction shooter, players, aided by an AI partner known as a Magus, must survive against xenomorphic creatures and other players in the hunt for resources.

Had no choice but to mine the SteamDB crystals for more NJ News. Turns out ピンチ50連発!! was uploaded March 15, 2024. Pinching myself @Hero of Legend (Not Again!!) to let 'em know itshappening.gif. Rescue job from 3DS eShop purgatory that'll be saved from the fiery page 4 pits by 'saviours' KaeruPanda Inc. & GameStudio Inc. this year with a [Japan only] crowdfund too!!

ピンチ50連発!!
[NSW/Steam] 50 Pinch Barrage!! <RUN> (KaeruPanda Inc./GameStudio Inc) {2024.xx.xx}​

[Official Trailer] “50 Pinch Barrage!!” Port Release Announcement!​

It’s been 10 years since the original version was released for the Nintendo 3DS!
The gameplay is the same but the “Ahhhhh”s are back and more beautiful than ever!
The much-awaited port title “50 Pinch Barrage!!” is coming soon to the Nintendo Switch and Steam!​

Genre: Cinematic Pinch-delivering Action
Single playerLanguages: English, Japanese, Chinese
Release date: Early Summer 2024
Price: TBA​

【期間限定】クラウドファンディング開催中！
数量限定のレアなグッズも！あなたのお名前がゲームのクレジットに！？
2024/5/26まで、ぜひお早めに！！

[Limited Time] Crowdfunding is now open!
Limited quantities of rare goods are also available! Your name will appear in the game's credits!?
The deadline is May 26, 2024, so hurry!

「ピンチ50連発!!」Steam移植＆機能アップデート”救済者”募集プロジェクト​

Nintendo 3DSのダウンロードコンテンツとして人気を博した
「ピンチ50連発!!」のSteam移植および機能アップデートに関し
て開発を応援してくれる、”救済者”を募集するプロジェクトチー
ムです。 我々の開発を応援してください！！

It gained popularity as downloadable content for Nintendo 3DS.
Regarding the Steam port and function update of “50 Pinches in a Row!!”
A project team is recruiting “saviors” to support development.
This is Mu. Please support our development! !

現在の総額
Current Amount
177,000円
目標金額
Target Amount
500,000円​

パートナー数
Number of Pledges
19人
募集終了まで残り
Days Remaining
17日​

Despite the modest pledge goal, Mu will need to hustle to make it!! Official website mentions Super Sweep records were involved (who also worked on Infinity Strash, Labyrinth of Zangetsu & Figureheads) which suggests a long running Affinity (eh?) between Kaeru Panda, Game Studio & its recording artists. Will it receive an official soundtrack? Don't ask me I just post here!!

Spoiler: LATE EDIT: One More GameStudio Inc. Thing

NJ Holdings' Game Studio has some Free Fornite Freshness so I might have to bite the Battle Royale Bullet & download it. But then I'd have to first download Fortnite & its updates...meh.

March 7, 2024
「フォートナイト」上にUEFNを活用した『篭ノ鳥 THE BIRD IN THE CAGE』を公開いたしました。（ゲームスタジオ）
UEFN-based "Kagonotori THE BIRD IN THE CAGE" is now available on "Fortnite". (Game Studio)​

1-4 players You are trapped under the curse of Chiyoko... Follow the instructions quickly and avoid the traps! Watch out for attacks from Chiyoko, whose shadow is reflected in the shoji;paper-sliding doors! Can you survive for 5 minutes in a room surrounded with full of traps? 1-4人プレイ あなたは千代子の呪いに閉じ込められてしまった… 表示される指示に素早く従って、罠を回避しろ！ 障子に映る、千代子の影からの攻撃にも注意しろ！ 呪いの罠が飛び交う部屋の中、5分間生き延びる事ができるか？！

4074-1178-4268
"びたち―素材館" by びたちー is licensed under CC BY
"鈴木諭" by 鈴木諭 is licensed under CC BY
"Bittachi-Materials" by Bittachi-is licensed under CC BY
"Suzuki Satoshi" by Suzuki Satoshi is licensed under CC BY
Source: PR Times JP

(The Bird in the Cage) NEW Creative 2.0 UEFN Fortnite Horror Map! Not on my NJ Bingo Card, not much of interest other than it appears to be a simple tech demo for staff to work on UE5.

 

[Celestial]

Oh btw @KR_EP I saw you wrote 2 years ago that Takayaki Suguro's whereabouts are unknown, but he's actually the co-owner of GR DRIVE, alongside Kenji Goshima (director of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere). Suguro took part in the press event for Resonance of Fate: 4K Edition at TGS a while ago, alongside Muikatoge from tri-ace. This is how I learned that Suguro was heading GR Drive (waste of talent, but still)

 

[KR_EP]

「ピンチ50連発!!」Steam移植＆機能アップデート”救済者”募集プロジェクト​

現在の総額
Current Amount
211,000円
目標金額
Target Amount
500,000円​

パートナー数
Number of Pledges
22人
募集終了まで残り
Days Remaining
11日​

Pinch in a Bind. As per below: I wish to fix the OP & proof-read to correct errors. But its not a priority, if anything else is wrong please lemme know so I can fix it in post...by posting a new post!

Oh btw @KR_EP I saw you wrote 2 years ago that Takayaki Suguro's whereabouts are unknown, but he's actually the co-owner of GR DRIVE, alongside Kenji Goshima (director of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere). Suguro took part in the press event for Resonance of Fate: 4K Edition at TGS a while ago, alongside Muikatoge from tri-ace. This is how I learned that Suguro was heading GR Drive (waste of talent, but still)

You're reading my OP? Butwhy.gif You are, of course, absolutely right, major oversight on my part. Thanks for the post & reminder. Too long ago to remember exactly why I missed it. However based on how I draft OPs where I put notes in my text, I suspect it was a comment to myself in an early draft which I forgot to follow up on with further research before posting by mistake. Had been doing research since then (see below) & been wanting to do a post similar to one the above on Gemdrops. This is what happens when you have a big ol' to-do list!

Wanting to do a post Q3 update so this is a good enough opportunity as any to catch up on all things tri-Ace oh look at the time it's GDRIVEBY time! DRIVE-BY as this is very much incomplete. GRDRIVE has been rather busy in recent years for a wide variety of publishers Kirbys! But for the purposes of our discussion, let's talk HOT NJ HOLDINGS Connections! It lists both tri-Ace & Game Studio as main clients. GRDRIVE assisted on Phantasy Star NOVA - very much the Missing Link with tri-Ace & Takayuki Suguro post-Beneath the Labyrinth. Aside from ROF: 4K/HD, it worked alongside Game Studio on Lords of Vermillion Arena & Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? FAMILIA MYTH Battle Chronicle last year for Aiming.

株式会社ジーアールドライブ
GRDRIVE INC.​

代表取締役社長　五島 賢次
取締役副社長　　勝呂 隆之
取締役　　　　　古賀 崇広
執行役員　　　　大友 浩嗣
相談役　　　　　石上 幹雄

Representative Director and President Kenji Goshima
Director and Vice President Takayuki Suguro
Director Takahiro Koga
Executive Officer Hirotsugu Otomo
Advisor Mikio Ishigami

設立 2002年6月1日

Established June 1, 2002

62名 (令和3年9月現在) ※派遣スタッフを含む

62 people (as of September 2021) *Including temporary staff

Takahiro Koga? The others section provides insight into the kinds of support it offers. Main takeaway is that with contacts ongoing, not just with tri-Ace on a game ten years ago or promoting Resonance of Fate 4k/HD but a title from last year, perhaps one day both companies will collaborate on a new IP. Hell, maybe NJ Holdings eventually be in a position to set up a publishing division, it can sign GRDRIVE to make a new RPG directed by none other than -- you guessed it, Kenji Goshima! Oh & maybe one by Takayuki Suguro too. We can but dream.

Spoiler: The Others

遊技機液晶内映像制作協力

〇パチンコ(1タイトル)

〇パチスロ(2タイトル)

キャラクターデザイン
キャラクターモデル制作
背景&プロップモデル制作
キャラクターセットアップ
Cloth&Hairシミュレーション(ワークフロー整備含む)
レンダリング&コンポジット
2Dエフェクト(Adobe AfterEffects)

Cooperation in video production for gaming machine LCD screens

〇Pachinko (1 title)

〇 Pachislot (2 titles)

Character Design
Character model production
Background & prop model production
character setup
Cloth&Hair simulation (including workflow maintenance)
Rendering & compositing
2D effects (Adobe After Effects)

Resonance of Fate Interview​

We recently sat down with Resonance of Fate's director, Takayuki Suguro, and its producer Mitsuhiro Shimano, to find out more on this intriguing tri-Ace title.

POSTED: OCT 13, 2009 8:01 AM by Cam Shea​

IGN AU: Do you think that the Xbox 360 is gaining momentum in Japan?
Takayuki Suguro: Umm... not really. *LOL!*

Mitsuhiro Shimano: I would like to add, however, that the tri-Ace developed games for 360 have been quite successful, even in the Japanese market, so I'm confident that this title will do quite well on both 360 and PS3.

Takayuki Suguro: It would be great to make a title that's successful worldwide, but that doesn't mean that we'd make a game specifically for the Western market. We believe that whatever is fun is fun throughout the world.

Interview: Tri-Ace on Resonance of Fate's Battles, Manly Characters​

Resonance of Fate director Sugoro and producer Shimano talk to Gamasutra on the Xbox 360/PS3 game's complex battle system, character creation, and the risks of making an HD RPG in a difficult market.

Brandon Sheffield, Contributor
November 9, 2009​

I've noticed that a lot of next-gen RPGs have some kind of ending or finale to the title, so there's End of Eternity (Japanese title for Resonance of Fate), Last Remnant, Star Ocean 4: Last Hope, and so on. Why do you think there's so much fatalism in these game titles?
Takayuki Suguro: [laughs] Originally, this game was meant to be called Resonance of Time or Resonance of Fate, and Sega was saying they wanted End of Eternity, so people kind of say End of Eternitywas the first title and America and Europe changed it to Resonance. Resonance of Time is the original title. The guys wanted it that way. To your question, one thing is that maybe the Japanese market likes the end, the final, the last for some reason. And also, if you look at all the RPG games that have those titles, the protagonist is usually the savior to a kind of ending world, so the name probably links with how the story is going to develop.

Plus, there's Final Fantasy after all.
Takayuki Suguro: There is that! It can't be denied. *ROFL!*

Interviews// Resonance of Fate: Producer Takayuki Suguro​

Posted 26 Jan 2010 18:02 by Svend Joscelyne​

SPOnG:With those pressures of needing to please a Western market, is it limiting Japanese developers with what they want to do in a game?
Takayuki Suguro: It's not like Japanese developers should look to develop Western games or Western-oriented games in order to be successful. They just need to try something new. Despite what I said before about there being a large tradition with classic Japanese RPGs, there is a growing number – albeit small right now – of Japanese gamers who are quite tired of the traditional game structure.

This means that, disregarding the West for a second, we're in a phase that Japanese studios have to try and think of new ideas to even capture its local audience. This might be why a lot of studios are changing their style and all of a sudden trying bold new things with their games. It's almost too liberating in a way, that sense of trying something new, because there is the danger that people won't like it.

So I think Japanese developers are simply trying to reach a situation where they can try something new, rather than style their games in any particular way. I would like Resonance of Fate to be the first game to set this new approach from Japanese developers. We should be looking to make games that is fun for everyone, rather than fun for just one particular market.

Proof that even during the 'Dark Ages' of the PS3/360 generation there were people who got it. I mean really got it. As to why they weren't being heeded...please understand. Cause I don't! Is this interview with Takayuki Suguro & Shingo Muikatoge the one you meant? Plus GR DRIVE does what Nexon don't for a steal. I'll buy that [casual mobile dev] for a dollar yen!

尖りすぎた名作はなぜ今、リロードされたのか？ 『END OF ETERNITY 4K/HD EDITION』のキーマンを直撃【インタビュー】​

『END OF ETERNITY 4K/HD EDITION』はなぜ、このタイミングでリマスター版の発売に至ったのか。キーマンにお話を伺ってきました。

Why has this edgy masterpiece been reloaded now? A direct interview with the key person behind “END OF ETERNITY 4K/HD EDITION” [Interview]
Why was the remastered version of ''END OF ETERNITY 4K/HD EDITION'' released at this timing? We spoke to the key person.

2018.10.18 Thu 12:00​

──今回の発表は驚きました。なぜ今、リマスター版を制作したのでしょうか？

──This announcement surprised me. Why did you create a remastered version now?

向峠氏：きっかけは『スターオーシャン4 –THE LAST HOPE-』のリマスター版を2017年11月に発売したことでした。このプロジェクトで元々あったタイトルをリマスターしてPS4とSteamに出すという経験をしたのですが、終わった後に「他に何かリマスターできるタイトルはないの？」という流れになりまして。そこで、『EoE』が良いんじゃないかということでセガさんにお話したところ、「トライエースさんがやるならどうぞ」となった次第です。本音を言うと、これで売れて、続編制作につながったらうれしいです。

Mr. Mukaitoge: The impetus was the release of the remastered version of “Star Ocean 4 –THE LAST HOPE-” in November 2017. With this project, I had the experience of remastering an original title and releasing it on PS4 and Steam, but after it was finished, I started asking myself, ''Are there any other titles that could be remastered?'' So, when I talked to Sega about whether ''EoE'' would be good, they said, ''If Tri-Ace is going to do it, go ahead.'' To be honest, I'd be happy if it sold well and led to the production of a sequel.

End [of Eternity] on the first question goes hard & fast hitting you in the feels. The rest is even better & sadder as the prospect of a sequel never being made sure is one cruel Resonance of Fate.

Nexon sells Gloops​

Casual mobile developer offloaded to support studio GR Drive with a purchase price of ¥1 (January 9, 2020)