Shueisha Inc., the manga publisher behind Dragon Ball and Naruto, has revealed the launch of its new games division Shueisha Games.
Shueisha Games is currently planning multiple collaborative game projects with major game companies for all platforms, including mobile.
Upcoming titles range from a multiplayer speed trick action game on mobile to the tactical action game Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions on Nintendo Switch.
For the yet-to-be-confirmed mobile title, characters are being designed with a Weekly Shonen Jump manga artist leading the charge, hinting that this will be an original IP.
Whilst still ambiguous for now, development and the story are confirmed to be being managed overseas, and the game is to be co-published with a “major Japanese company”. Development is also in the hands of a “major Japanese developer”.
Eyes on all platforms
Other titles expected to launch in the next year include the survival roguelike The Tower of Children and Ukiyo, a Japanese cyberpunk adventure game.
The plunge into games – specifically mobile – is not surpising considering the popularity of the medium in Japan. Mobile titles that already utilise Shueisha’s IP have generated billions in consumer spending worldwide, such as Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, which surpassed $3 billion in player spending last August.
Going forward, it is likely that Shueisha will oversee the development and distribution of games linked to its IP as opposed to licensing this out to other studios.
Elsewhere, gaming subscription platform Utomik has recently revealed plans to offer users of its service access to cloud gaming by the middle of 2022.
