Valhalla Game Studios

Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd.[lower-alpha 1] is a video game development, entertainment, and holding company.

Valhalla Game Studios International
FormerlyValhalla Game Studios Co., Ltd. (2008-2014)
TypePrivate (impending IPO)
IndustryInteractive entertainment
Founded2008
(as Valhalla Game Studios)
November 26, 2014
(as Valhalla Game Studios International)
HeadquartersVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tokyo, Japan
(VGS Japan)
Key people
Satoshi Kanematsu
(CEO)
SubsidiariesValhalla Game Studios, Ltd. (VGS Japan)
Valhalla Seven Ltd.
Valhalla Networks Ltd.
EIN Entertainment Ltd.
Soleil Ltd.
WebsiteValhalla Game Studios International
VGS Japan

It was founded in 2008 as Valhalla Game Studios Co., Ltd.[lower-alpha 2] 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: Tachiagare Nippon!![2] Nintendo Nintendo 3DS 2016 N/A
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 43%, based on 54 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.[1]

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.[9]

On March 24, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied Valhalla Game Studios' trademark registration on the grounds that there was likelihood of confusion between Valhalla Motion Pictures and Valhalla Games Studios’ mark.[10]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 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
  2. Japanese: 株式会社ヴァルハラゲームスタジオ

References
  1. "PC格闘シューター『Devil's Third Online』" (in Japanese). NEXON. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  2. "桃太郎電鉄2017 たちあがれ日本!!" (in Japanese). Nintendo Co., Ltd. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  3. "History". Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  4. McWhertor, Michael (6 November 2010). "Ninja Gaiden Creators Reveal Devil's Third, The Bloody New Shooter From Valhalla". Kotaku.
  5. Purchese, Robert (4 July 2012). "Devil's Third rights returned to Itagaki and Valhalla Game Studios". Eurogamer.
  6. "Devil's Third". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. "Devil's Third Online Officially Announced For PC". Siliconera. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. "Devil's Third Online Launches In Japan In January, Adds Voice Chat, PvE, And More". Siliconera. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  9. Vogel, Mitch (9 November 2015). "Valhalla Game Studios is Being Sued Over a Trademark Dispute". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  10. "United States Patent and Trademark Office Opposition No. 91206662" (PDF). 24 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.