Valhalla Game Studios
 | |
| Private (impending IPO) | |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Founded |
2008 (as Valhalla Game Studios) November 26, 2014 (as Valhalla Game Studios International) |
| Headquarters |
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Tokyo, Japan (VGS Japan) |
Key people |
Satoshi Kanematsu (CEO) Tomonobu Itagaki (President, CTO) |
| Subsidiaries |
Valhalla Game Studios, Ltd. (VGS Japan) Valhalla Seven Ltd. Valhalla Networks Ltd. EIN Entertainment Ltd. Soleil Ltd. |
| Website |
Valhalla Game Studios International VGS Japan |
Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd. (ヴァルハラゲームスタジオインターナショナルリミテッド) is a video game development, entertainment, and holding company.
It was founded in 2008 as Valhalla Game Studios Co., Ltd. (株式会社ヴァルハラゲームスタジオ) in Tokyo, Japan. An international division was later founded in British Columbia, Canada, which acquired all intellectual property and shares of the original Valhalla Game Studios and other affiliates, effectively making them subsidiaries of the Canadian company. To differentiate, the original Valhalla Game Studios is alternatively referred to as VGS Japan. VGS Japan is best known for Devil's Third, their flagship title which went through a long development cycle.
Staff
The studio is run by former Tecmo staff: Satoshi Kanematsu, who worked on Monster Rancher and Rygar, and Tomonobu Itagaki, a game designer known for his work on the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series.
List of games developed by VGS Japan
| Title | Publisher | Platform | Release | Additional details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devil's Third | Nintendo | Wii U | 2015 | Former Development co-operation for Nintendo SPD |
| Devil's Third Online | Nexon | PC | 2016[1] | N/A |
| Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachigare Nippon!![2] | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | 2017 | Legal information on official site reveals involvement |
| TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Projects
Since 2009,[3] the company has been working on Devil's Third, a "hyper-violent shooter".[4] Originally developed as a title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game was eventually developed exclusively for the Wii U. Following the closure of development partner THQ, intellectual property rights to Devil's Third were given back to Valhalla Game Studios.[5] The game was re-announced by Nintendo at E3 2014; the title released in 2015. Critical response aggregator Metacritic assigned Devil's Third an approval score of 44%, based on 46 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6] In November 2015, it was announced that Valhalla and Nexon would be releasing Devil's Third Online, a PC port of Devil's Third's multiplayer mode, as part of a partnership. [7] The title will go into open beta in December in Japan and will release in the same region in late January. It was confirmed that features that were absent in the original, such as voice chat, would be added to Devil's Third Online.[8] After a delay, the title released in Japan on June 8, 2016. [9]
Litigation
In November 2015, it was reported that Valhalla Motion Pictures was suing Valhalla Game Studios for trademark infringement, likely due to their similar name and logo. [10]
References
- ↑ http://www.nexon.co.jp/news/detail.aspx?no=131985
- ↑ "桃太郎電鉄2017 たちあがれ日本!!" (in Japanese). Nintendo Co., Ltd. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ↑ "History". Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (6 November 2010). "Ninja Gaiden Creators Reveal Devil's Third, The Bloody New Shooter From Valhalla". Kotaku.
- ↑ Purchese, Robert (4 July 2012). "Devil's Third rights returned to Itagaki and Valhalla Game Studios". Eurogamer.
- ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii-u/devils-third
- ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2015/11/06/devils-third-online-officially-announced-for-pc/
- ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2015/11/12/devils-third-online-launches-in-japan-in-january-adds-voice-chat-pve-and-more/
- ↑ http://www.nexon.co.jp/news/detail.aspx?no=131985
- ↑ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/valhalla_game_studios_is_being_sued_over_a_trademark_dispute