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Mages Inc. (株式会社メージス, Kabushiki gaisha Mējisu, stylized "MAGES.inc"), formerly 5pb. Inc. (株式会社5pb., Kabushiki gaisha 5pb., short for "The Five powered & basics"), is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music.
 | |
Native name | 株式会社メージス |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Mējisu |
| Formerly | 5pb. Inc. (2005–2011) |
| Company type | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 6, 2005 Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan |
| Headquarters | Shibuya, Tokyo , Japan |
Key people | Chiyomaru Shikura (Executive Producer, Former Chairman) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | mages |
History
editIt was formed on April 6, 2005,[1] after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he formerly held until January 2023. The company is divided into two parts, 5pb. Games for the manufacturing of video games, and 5pb. Records for the record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the TYO Group until Shikura purchased the remaining rights from the TYO Group on April 15, 2009.[2] Shikura co-owns 5pb. with AGOne, an affiliate of Dwango Japan.[3] Staff members include scenario writer Naotaka Hayashi, artist Yukihiro Matsuo, and producer Tatsuya Matsuhara.
In April 2011, a group of companies consisting of Arkray, Seed Project, Dwango Creative School, Animelo Summer Life, 5pb. Records, and 5pb. Games merged under the parent company Mages. Inc. led by executive director Chiyomaru Shikura.[4]
In July 2019, Mages was acquired by Shikura's concept studio Chiyomaru Studio, with the goal of being more flexible and fast in its decisions as a company independent from their parent company Dwango and from the Kadokawa group. With that said, while Mages would no longer be a part of Kadokawa Group following the management buyout, it still expected to maintain the same favorable relationship with the Group that it had so far. Along with this buyout, the company intended to strengthen its branding by consolidating the 5pb. brand into Mages.[5]
In March 2020, Colopl acquired Mages from Chiyomaru Studio for ¥1.612 billion (approximately US$14.92 million).[6]
In December 2022, it was reported that Mages would enter insolvency as a result of financial losses of ¥613 million (approximately $4.6 million).[7][8]
In January 2023, Chiyomaru Shikura announced via Twitter that he would resign as company Chairman and Executive Director,[9] but stated that he would still be part of Mages as an Executive Producer.[10]
Artists
editPreviously called 5pb. Records, since 2019 the brand does not exist anymore, with the Mages brand being the only one used for everything.
- Takeshi Abo
- Artery Vein (Eri Kitamura & Asami Imai)
- Asaka
- Asriel
- Ayane
- Ayumu
- Cyua
- cadode (2022–present)
- DG-10
- Akiko Hasegawa
- Rina Hidaki
- FRAM (2022–present)
- fripSide (2008)
- Himeka
- Asami Imai
- Mio Isayama
- Kanako Itō
- Junjou no Afilia
- Kaori
- Kenn
- Kicco
- Asriel's Kokomi
- Riyu Kosaka
- Marina
- Ui Miyazaki
- Halko Momoi
- Ayumi Murata
- Nao
- Romanxia
- Sakura Nogawa
- Yui Sakakibara
- Phantasm (FES cv. Yui Sakakibara)
- Asami Shimoda
- Konomi Suzuki (2018–present)
- Two-Formula (Saeko Zōgō & Kaori Sadohara)
- Velforest
- Zwei
Video games
edit5pb. Games was a division of Mages, which dealt with video game development. The brand was originally named Five Games Kid, or 5gk. for short, but the name was changed in December 2007 to coincide with the name of 5pb's record label 5pb. Records. Some of 5pb. Games' developers arrived from KID, Tonkin House and Scitron, such as with Takeshi Abo in December 2006. Since 2019, the 5pb. Games brand is not used anymore, with the Mages brand being the only one used for everything.
Chiyomaru Studio
edit The studio's planetarium projector logo represents how entertainment is the projection of people's dreams.[23] | |
| Chiyomaru Studio | |
Native name | 千代丸スタジオ |
Romanized name | Chiyomaru Sutajio |
| Formerly | Chrome Edge |
Key people | Chiyomaru Shikura |
| Products | |
| Subsidiaries | Mages (2019–2020) |
| Website | chiyomaru-studio |
Chiyo St. Inc., doing business as Chiyomaru Studio (Japanese: 千代丸スタジオ, Hepburn: Chiyomaru Sutajio), is a multimedia concept studio led by Chiyomaru Shikura,[23] the representative director and president of Mages.[24] The company, which was originally named Chrome Edge (クロウムエッジ, Kuroumu Ejji), was founded separately from Mages for the purpose of managing the copyrights to the media projects Shikura works on, including the Science Adventure, and for creating stories for use in various media.[23] In July 2019, Chiyomaru Studio made a management buyout of Mages, acquiring all shares held by its former parent company Dwango;[5] the following year, Chiyomaru Studio sold all Mages shares to Colopl.[6]
While the concept work is done by Chiyomaru Studio, they work together with Mages to develop video games using the concepts, and with Kadokawa Corporation to print books and produce anime and manga.[23] The studio includes staff members from Mages, who communicate through instant messaging; as of 2015, Shikura was the only on-site staff.[25]
The first new intellectual property developed by Chiyomaru Studio was the video game Anonymous;Code, which was developed together with Mages' video games division 5pb. Games,[26][27] and it is the 6th main title of the Science Adventure multimedia franchise.[28][29] Chiyomaru Studio has also developed the Robotics;Notes spin-off Science Adventure game Robotics;Notes DaSH.[30] Since 2017, the studio organizes live music events where they also release updates on their media projects, called "Chiyo-ST Live".[31][32]
See also
edit- Kaga Create, whose former subsidiary CyberFront was acquired by 5pb
- KID, whose assets 5pb acquired as part of CyberFront
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "5pb. company information" (in Japanese). 5pb. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
- ^ 弊社株式の異動（譲渡）に関するお知らせ [Concerning Our Company Stock Change (Transfer) Notification] (in Japanese). 5pb. 2009-04-15. Archived from the original on 2009-08-10. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- ^ "Outline - Corporate" (in Japanese). Dwango. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Visual Novel Publisher 5pb Becomes Mages, 5pb Director Is Head Of The Company". Siliconera. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
- ^ a b Romano, Sal (2019-07-26). "Mages goes independent from Kadokawa Group, 5pb. to consolidate into Mages". Gematsu. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ a b Romano, Sal (2020-03-30). "Colopl acquires Mages". Gematsu. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
- ^ rawmeatcowboy (2022-12-26). "STEINS;GATE dev 'MAGES' entering insolvency". GoNintendo. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ Kiwami, Soul (2022-12-27). "MAGES. Enters Insolvency, Reports Massive Financial Losses in 2022". Final Weapon. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ "Chiyomaru Shikura steps down as MAGES. chairman and executive director". Gematsu. 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "【お知らせ】エグゼティブプロデューサー就任のお知らせ". MAGES. Inc. (in Japanese). 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "Chaos;Child PlayStation versions and anime confirmed". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "Steins;Gate 0 announced". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "5pb. announces Plastic Memories game". Gematsu. April 19, 2016. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ "First Screens Of New Game! The Challenge Stage! Show Aoba, Hifumi, Kou, And Shizuku". Siliconera. July 20, 2016. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ "Kamaitachi no Yoru remake announced for PS Vita [Update]". Gematsu. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ "Occultic;Nine game announced". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "TIMINGooo!". Gematsu. 27 October 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
- ^ "5pb. announces Anonymous;Code". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ Romano, Sal (September 6, 2022). "Summer Time Rendering: Another Horizon confirmed for PS4, Switch". Gematsu. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Romano, Sal (October 18, 2022). "Summer Time Rendering: Another Horizon debut trailer". Gematsu.
- ^ Romano, Sal (February 29, 2024). "MAGES. announces suspense visual novel Iwakura Aria for Switch". Gematsu. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
- ^ MAGES. "ミステリート～八十神かおるの挑戦！～ 公式サイト" (in Japanese). Retrieved November 11, 2021.
- ^ a b c d 『シュタインズ・ゲート』新作など千代丸スタジオが贈る新作タイトルについて志倉千代丸氏へ独占インタビュー(1/2). Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2015-03-28. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
- ^ "Mages.Inc.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
- ^ Fushimachi, Yuzuru (2015-03-30). "志倉千代丸「ADVをゲームとは思ってない」…その真意と「CHIYOMARU STUDIO」の正体とは". Inside Games (in Japanese). IID, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
- ^ "Anonymous;Code Visual Novel's 1st 2 Characters Revealed". Anime News Network. 2016-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
- ^ Ishaan (2015-03-29). "Anonymous;Code Is 5pb's Next Sci-Fi Visual Novel". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
- ^ Token (2016-07-03). "【5pb.祭り2016】「ANONYMOUS;CODE」ステージでは"セーブ＆ロード"を用いる新システム「ハッキングトリガー」が明らかに！". Gamer (in Japanese). Ixll Co. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "本作のトリガーは"ハッキングトリガー"！？ 『アノニマス・コード』の見どころについて志倉千代丸氏が語る【5pb.祭り2016】". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2016-07-03. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "東京ゲームショウ2017にて『ロボティクス・ノーツ ダッシュ』の映像が公開【TGS2017】". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2017-09-21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
- ^ 『シュタインズ・ゲート』と『ロボティクス・ノーツ』の新作などが発表――ライブイベント“チヨスタライブ”での発表内容をお届け！. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. May 28, 2017. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ^ "おなじみの楽曲から一夜限りのスペシャルコラボまで！ 濃密過ぎる3時間!! "科学アドベンチャーライブ2018-SINGULARITY-"リポート". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
External links
edit- Official website
(in Japanese)