Japanese developer heads westward
CyGames Inc, the Japanese developer behind the Granblue Fantasy and Shadowverse franchises, has announced it is expanding into the west, establishing two new studios in Europe and the United States.
“Following the worldwide launch of Cygames’ strategic card game Shadowverse in June 2016, a Global Business Development team was established alongside branches in Korea and Taiwan to further promote the company’s titles outside of Japan,” said the company in a statement.”
“Cygames America and Cygames Europe are the latest additions to Cygames’ ongoing push to promote and market their titles in North America and Europe, which together account for roughly half of the world’s video game marketplace. In keeping with the company’s vision to be the best in entertainment, Cygames strives to continue providing high-quality content for fans all around the globe.”
The CyGames America office is located in Los Angeles, where it is overseen by CEO Motohiro Okubo. The European office is situated in London, UK, and is run by Managing Director Hiroaki Ochiai. It appears that both studios will focus mostly on marketing, distribution, and the localization of products. Currently, it seems that neither team will feature in-house game development.
The next major release from the studio will be the revamped fighter Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, which is currently in development at Arc System Works with an eye to launch in later in 2023.
