Colopl acquired visual novel developer for $15 million

The Japanese publisher Colopl has announced the acquisition of the Tokyo-based game company MAGES., which is mainly engaged in the development of visual novels, and is also a music label.

According to its terms, MAGES. It becomes a fully controlled division of Colopl.

Chiyomaru Studio itself acquired MAGES. just a year ago. It was supposed to help her become more flexible and independent. Why the old owner decided to withdraw from the deal so quickly is not reported.

What kind of MAGES.?

MAGES. first of all, it is known for the STEINS;GATE series, which was developed by one of its divisions — 5pb. Games (and initially she was the author of the game, but now all the company’s projects come out under a single brand).

Despite the small sales by modern industrial standards (we are talking about several million copies), STEINS;GATE, released in 2009, received its own manga and anime based on it, which entered the Japanese top Blu-ray sales at the start.

Since that time, MAGES games have been comparable in success. I didn’t release it. However, most of her games consistently get good press.

Colopl?

Colopl is a recognizable brand on the mobile market. He is well known for two major Japanese hits:

• White Cat Project — revenue of at least $1 billion;
• Quiz RPG: The World of Mystic Wiz — revenue of at least $400 million.

Detailed data on games can be viewed on AppMagic. The only thing is that there is no data for 2012-2014, when these games grew in sales.

Colopl (AppMagic) sales dynamicsWhy did mobile Colopl buy the authors of short stories?

Now Colopl no longer earns as much as a couple of years ago (its revenue peaked in 2015-2016). She rarely has new releases.

Perhaps thanks to MAGES. the company plans to try to re-enter the native market, compete with the big two Japanese mobile blockbusters built on popular anime brands: Fate/Grand Order and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle.

Both games have been consistently in the top five highest—grossing games in Japan since 2015. The revenue of Fate/Grand Order is more than $2.8 billion, and the revenue of Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle is more than $1.6 billion.

With an eye on them, Colopl may plan to release a similar role-playing project that will also use a recognizable cross—media brand – in this case, STEINS;GATE.

Also on the topic:

• Black Cat led Colopl to a capitalization of $3.4 billionIt’s all about cats: two mobile games of the Japanese company Colopl have become hits at once
• Colopl’s profit decreased due to payments in favor of Disney
• Is there any news?