Harvestella and Another Eden creator Daisuke Taka is developing a brand-new game at his new company. We ask him what’s he’s been up to for the past 2 years - AUTOMATON WEST We talk to Harvestella producer Daisuke Taka following his departure from Square Enix and the establishment of his new company Impachi.

Harvestella and Another Eden creator Daisuke Taka is developing a brand-new game at his new company. We ask him what’s he’s been up to for the past 2 years
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Air and Clannad publisher Visual Arts launches new visual novel brand Visual Arts Scripts, with three new titles currently in production - AUTOMATON WEST Visual Arts Scripts is developing Sayagatari - Promise of the Cursed Blade -, Tekkai Jousai no Haika and Honjou Rendoku to Ushinawareta Ikou.

Air and Clannad publisher Visual Arts launches new visual novel brand Visual Arts Scripts, with three new titles currently in production

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Creator of otaku schoolgirl visual novel Girlfailure Art Club launches fanclub to fund development. Several million yen needed to support localization, voice acting, and more content - AUTOMATON WEST Uka Todoki announces the launch of an official development blog for Girlfailure Art Club in order to collect funds for producing the project.

Creator of otaku schoolgirl visual novel Girlfailure Art Club launches fanclub to fund development. Several million yen needed to support localization, voice acting, and more content

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Japanese anime and film giant Toei enters game business with new Toei Games label  - AUTOMATON WEST Toei Games will initially focus on the PC (Steam) market and developing original IPs, rather than adapting Toei's famous franchises.

Japanese anime and film giant Toei enters game business with new Toei Games label

Surprisingly, Toei Games’s early game lineup will not include titles based on existing IPs
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Hello Kitty and Kuromi company Sanrio announces its own game brand Sanrio Games. Ten titles planned for release in the next 3 years  - AUTOMATON WEST Sangrio Games's first title, Sanrio Party Land, is set to launch in fall of 2026 for Nintendo Switch systems.

Hello Kitty and Kuromi company Sanrio announces its own game brand Sanrio Games. Ten titles planned for release in the next 3 years
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Japanese fire sergeant suspended after creating 10 different DIY board games and forcing colleagues to play with him while on duty  - AUTOMATON WEST Japanese users are intrigued by the unusual details of a case in which a fire sergeant reportedly coerced coworkers into playing his DIY games.

Japanese fire sergeant suspended after creating 10 different DIY board games and forcing colleagues to play with him while on duty
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Former Shueisha editor behind Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family and Dandadan announces new, independent manga platform  - AUTOMATON WEST Shihei Lin's company, Mix Green is launching its own manga editorial department and has opened submissions for manuscripts.

Former Shueisha editor behind Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family and Dandadan announces new, independent manga platform
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Dark fantasy platonic yuri visual novel Drowning Song of the Stagnant Sea launches on Steam. A scylla meets the most beautiful human she’s ever seen  - AUTOMATON WEST Waku Waku Games and Kuso no Kobo have released the dark fairy tale visual novel Drowning Song of the Stagnant Sea.

Dark fantasy platonic yuri VN "Drowning Song of the Stagnant Sea" launches on Steam. A scylla meets the most beautiful human she’s ever seen and is consumed by envy
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Japan’s DMM Games to launch proprietary app store for iOS, with possible support for adult games  - AUTOMATON WEST DMM Games plants to release its own app store for iOS users sometime in June or Beyond.

Japan’s DMM Games to launch proprietary app store for iOS, with possible support for adult games
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Japanese $340k crowdfunded visual novel is still missing more than half its funds after issues with platform, but devs confirm that development “will absolutely not be halted” - AUTOMATON WEST Shibuya Scramble Stories developers make new update on the game's progress amidst continuing issues with crowdfunding platform.

Japanese $340k crowdfunded visual novel is still missing more than half its funds after issues with platform, but devs confirm that development “will absolutely not be halted”

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Square Enix takes action against Final Fantasy 14 video content creator over harassment of employees following shutdown of defamatory news blog - AUTOMATON WEST The two parties reached an amicable settlement, with the video creator paying an undisclosed sum as compensation to Square Enix.

Square Enix takes action against Final Fantasy 14 video content creator over harassment of employees following shutdown of defamatory news blog

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Almost 90% of Japanese people dislike random and "blind bag" merch, but the majority still buys it, large-scale survey shows  - AUTOMATON WEST A study by Hamaru Strategy surveyed over 35 thousand Japanese consumers on their opinions of random/blind-buy merch.

Almost 90% of Japanese people dislike random and "blind bag" merch, but the majority still buys it, large-scale survey shows
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“Making it technically work and making it actually enjoyable as a game are different things.” Japanese devs weigh in on why retrofitting live-service games with offline support is harder than gamers t... Following controversy surrounding the unofficial "offline version" of NieR Reincarnation, Japanese developers have shared some technical issues on the matter.

“Making it technically work and making it actually enjoyable as a game are different things.” Japanese devs weigh in on why retrofitting live-service games with offline support is harder than gamers think
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Unity employees in Korea protest over alleged “underhanded” restructuring tactics  - AUTOMATON WEST After the company downsized from 230 to 120 employees, Unity Korea's union protested against with what it considers "coercive" practices.

Unity employees in Korea protest over alleged “underhanded” restructuring tactics
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Bunny Garden 2 debuts as Japan’s number one top-selling game on both Steam and Switch - AUTOMATON WEST Japanese developer qureate announces that their new game Bunny Garden 2 debuted as top -seller on both Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Bunny Garden 2 debuts as Japan’s number one top-selling game on both Steam and Switch

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Japan’s foreign affairs minister criticizes White House over unauthorized use of Nintendo gameplay footage in Iran war campaign video on X    - AUTOMATON WEST Minister Toshimitsu Motegi recently criticized the White House for unauthorized use of Nintendo's clips on their X account.

Japan’s foreign affairs minister criticizes White House over unauthorized use of Nintendo gameplay footage in Iran war campaign video on X

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Japanese man gets prison sentence and million-yen fine for writing monetized “spoiler-heavy” summaries of movies and anime - AUTOMATON WEST A Japanese website admin was recently charged with violating the Copyright Act for posting summary articles of the Overlord anime series and Godzilla films.

Japanese man gets prison sentence and million-yen fine for writing monetized “spoiler-heavy” summaries of movies and anime

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A prefecture in Japan will offer single people money to use matchmaking apps  - AUTOMATON WEST Japan’s Kochi prefecture announced on April 10 that it will be launching a subsidy program to support young people in finding romantic partners and getting married with the help of online dating apps.

A prefecture in Japan will offer single people money to use matchmaking apps

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Square Enix partners with AI manga translation company to automate typesetting process which takes “3,000 of hours of manual work a year”  - AUTOMATON WEST By delegating routine tasks to the AI-powered Mantra Engine, Square Enix hopes to streamline the manga editing process.

Square Enix partners with AI manga translation company to automate typesetting process which takes “3,000 of hours of manual work a year”

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Disgaea series creator and former NIS CEO lets game companies hire him as a “shared producer” for the cost of a new graduate’s salary  - AUTOMATON WEST In between of developing games at his new company SuperNiche, Sohei Niikawa has been active as a "shared" producer in the industry for dirt cheap.

Disgaea series creator and former NIS CEO lets game companies hire him as a “shared producer” for the cost of a new graduate’s salary

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Metal Slug devs’ modern revival of forgotten monster-taming RPG Navinosuke will add togglable quest and objective markers to the game. “If we don’t add them, people will get angry” - AUTOMATON WEST Metal Slug artist Akio shares update on the dev progress of Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster, revealing some "polarizing" new QOL updates.

Metal Slug devs’ modern revival of forgotten monster-taming RPG Navinosuke will add togglable quest and objective markers to the game. “If we don’t add them, people will get angry”

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Japan’s biggest “ghost developer” known for working for Atlus and Square Enix sees significant growth in console sector following shift away from mobile games - AUTOMATON WEST Tose recently announced its financial results for the second quarter of th current fiscal year, reporting significant growth in sales.

Japan’s biggest “ghost developer” known for working for Atlus and Square Enix sees significant growth in console sector following shift away from mobile games

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Japanese crowdfunding platform that allegedly ran off with more than half of Ishii Jiro’s $340k game budget suddenly becomes inaccessible  - AUTOMATON WEST After leaving the developers of Shibuya Scramble Stories with half of their raised funds missing, Ubgoe has mysteriously become unavailable.

Japanese crowdfunding platform that allegedly ran off with more than half of Ishii Jiro’s $340k game budget suddenly becomes inaccessible
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Japanese indie adult game developer says local bank blocked their overseas revenue transfers despite legal compliance, citing undisclosed “risks” - AUTOMATON WEST Japanese indie adult game dev Ren recently announced that all revenue-related transactions from overseas had been suspended by their bank.

Japanese indie adult game developer says local bank blocked their overseas revenue transfers despite legal compliance, citing undisclosed “risks”
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Level-5 CEO says the Inazuma Eleven JRPG series is successful because it never tried to look “cool” to adults  - AUTOMATON WEST Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino recently talked about the "real" origin of Inazuma Eleven and why he thinks the series has stayed relevant for so long.

Level-5 CEO says the Inazuma Eleven JRPG series is successful because it never tried to look “cool” to adults
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Toho announces shift to “anime mass production phase” amidst increasing demand. Aiming to reach quota of 30 seasons per year by 2032 - AUTOMATON WEST Japanese entertainment company Toho announces new anime-centered expansion strategy focusing on "mass production."

Toho announces shift to “anime mass production phase” amidst increasing demand. Aiming to reach quota of 30 seasons per year by 2032

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Japanese denpa music rhythm game invites people to write delusional posts from the POV of a psychotic hikikomori to be featured in-game  - AUTOMATON WEST Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis's submissions will be open until April 21, in all 15 languages supported by the game.

Japanese denpa music rhythm game invites people to write delusional posts from the POV of the psychotic hikikomori heroine to be featured in-game
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Indie publisher says offering a paid game for free for 4 days brought in $250,000 in revenue on Steam. The key is DLC  - AUTOMATON WEST The CEO of indie game publisher tinyBuild has shared the impressive results of a four-day free givaway campaign for Graveyard Keeper.

Indie publisher says offering a paid game for free for 4 days brought in $250,000 in revenue on Steam. The key is DLC
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Japanese YouTuber shares first self-made prototype as he learns game dev to salvage troubled $320K crowdfunded project after 3-year development limbo - AUTOMATON WEST Japanese Youtuber Narunii The Lore Knight shares a self-made mock up of his troubled $320k crowdfunded dream project Chikai no Fuchi.

Japanese YouTuber shares first self-made prototype as he learns game dev to salvage troubled $320K crowdfunded project after 3-year development limbo
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Largest shareholder of DoDonPachi developer Cave offers her own funds to raise $600k capital for console game development  - AUTOMATON WEST The almost-$600k-capital is to be raised by issuing 145,000 new shares to Natsuko Yoshinari, Cave's largest shareholder.

Largest shareholder of DoDonPachi developer Cave offers her own funds to raise $600k capital for console game development
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