VIZ MEDIA CREATES GAMES NOW

FAMOUS ANIME/MANGA PUBLISHER ADDS VIDEO GAMES TO PORTFOLIO

Viz Media is one of the major licensing/publishing companies when it comes to Japanese media. Casual fans will be familiar with the company for its broadcast of the Naruto anime and manga, while hardcore fans remember manga series such as Dragon Ball and Case Closed (Detective Conan).

While still going strong in the business thanks to the recent release of the Death Note live-action film on Netflix and the upcoming Detective Pikachu film, Viz Media announced that they will now enter the “indie” video game market.

Viz Media has partnered with Portland game studio Rose City Games for a three game deal. Rose City Games will develop the games while Viz Media will focus on publishing and distribution. Along with the partnership, Viz Media will expand into creating a development program that will provide aid to games in any stage of production. No matter where you are in development/production, if you have a solid concept, then Viz Media would love to hear from you. The only catch is that the game must be an “original and narrative-driven game”.

The first game of the three game deal is called The World Next Door and is heavily inspired by anime and Japanese aesthetics. The synopsis is as follows:

“The World Next Door is a narrative-driven game that centers around Jun, a rebellious teen girl trapped in a parallel world inhabited by magical creatures. It’s a supernatural action-adventure game inspired by “the emotional storytelling and thrilling action of both anime and indie games.”

The World Next Door will be Rose City Games’ first self-developed game, as they often just acted as support for other indie developers. The studio also plans to work with illustrator Lord Gris for character development (you can view her work on Instagram).

The main character Jun is seen with her partners Liza (the demon) and Horace (the cat thing). These amazing visuals will only help to attract attention to the game.

There’s currently no time table available for the game but most great games take time, indie or AAA. Viz Media is getting ahead of the competition by working with game developers, especially if the games are completely original and not using a licensed work.

#VideoGames #TheWorldNextDoor #Otaku #Anime #VizMedia #RoseCityGames