Cygames, Inc.[a] is a Japanese video game development studio established in 2011 by CyberAgent. Mobile and e-commerce company DeNA acquired a 24% stake in the studio in 2012, and Nintendo acquired another 5% stake in 2018, leaving CyberAgent with 69% of the shares and as such, they are the parent company of Cygames. From its formation, the company produced mobile games, initially on the Mobage platform, and from 2013 on Android and iOS. The company headquarters is located in Tokyo while other divisions are located in Osaka and Saga in Japan and Seoul, South Korea.
 Cygames shares its headquarters building (in Shibuya) with its parent company CyberAgent. | |
Native name | 株式会社Cygames |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Saigēmusu |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | |
| Founded | May 9, 2011 |
| Headquarters | Shibuya, , Japan |
Number of locations | 14 |
Key people | Koichi Watanabe (President) Yuito Kimura (Executive director) Kenichiro Takaki (General Manager, console division) |
| Owner |
|
Number of employees | 3,354 (2023) |
| Parent | CyberAgent |
| Divisions | Osaka Cygames Cygames Saga Debug Center Cygames Saga Studio Cygames Korea Cygames Taiwan Cygames America Cygames Europe |
| Subsidiaries | CyDesignation, Inc. BlazeGames, Inc. WithEntertainment, Inc Citail, Inc CygamesPictures Kusanagi, Inc LogicLinks, Inc. Cymusic, Inc. Cysharp, Inc. Scoop Music Corporation CyFoods, Inc. CySphere, Inc. flaggs, Inc. Cygames Capital, Inc. |
| Website | cygames |
Key IPs include Uma Musume Pretty Derby (2021), Princess Connect! Re:Dive (2018), Shadowverse (2016), Granblue Fantasy (2014), The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls (2011, with Bandai Namco Entertainment), and Rage of Bahamut (2011). The company began development of console games in 2015. In 2016 Cygames announced the establishment of an anime studio CygamesPictures. The company also began funding anime for its mobile property and for new projects and adaptations for anime. The company also entered the manga, music and design market in the time period.
History
editCygames, Inc. was established in 2011 by CyberAgent,[1] a Japanese web services company. In 2012, DeNA purchased a 24% stake in Cygames.[2] Shortly thereafter, the studio was chosen by Gamasutra as one of the top 10 game developers of the year.[3]
In June 2012, Cygames founded CyDesignation, a company specialized in Design, Illustration, Game planning and Game development.[4][5]
In March 2016, Cygames announced the establishment of its own anime production division and anime studio as a subsidiary known as CygamesPictures to do planning, production and animation both for Cygames own IPs and original anime projects as well.[6][7]
In June 2016, Cygames announced the acquisition of the gaming and anime background studio Kusanagi.[8]
In 2016, Cygames announced that it was developing Project Awakening, its first large-format title for consoles[9] as well as the establishment of their Osaka studio focused on console games.[10]
In May 2017, Cygames and Kodansha announced that they formed a partnership to launch a new label called Cycomi to release volumes in print distributed by Kodansha for manga already published online by Cygames on its digital manga website called Cycomics.[11] However, in April 2019, Cygames formed a new partnership with Shogakukan.[12]
On June 8, 2017, Cygames and its parent company CyberAgent announced that they jointly established CA-Cygames Anime Fund", a fund for investing in anime IP which will inject funds to the anime production committee to obtain the rights to stream anime videos on the Internet and produce games with a total amount of funds to be 3 billion yen.
In 2017, Cygames founded its esports team, Cygames Beast, with Street Fighter players Daigo Umehara, Snake Eyez, and PR Balrog.[13][14] Since July 2017, Cygames is an official sponsor of Juventus Football Club.
In April 2018, a partnership with Nintendo was announced to develop the game Dragalia Lost, for the purpose of facilitating the partnership Nintendo will obtain approximately 5 percent of Cygames's issued stocks.[15]
In May 2018, Cygames announced the establishment of a subsidiary for music production and artist management called Cymusic.[16]
In April 2021, Cygames announced the establishment of a subsidiary called CyberSphere which is focused on 3DCG production for anime and games.[17] Cygames produced the anime The Marginal Service which started airing in 2023.
In April 2023, Cygames opened two more international offices focused in marketing for its regions; one in Los Angeles called Cygames America and one in London called Cygames Europe.[18]
Since January 2024, Cygames is an official sponsor of Sagan Tosu.[19]
In October 2024, Cygames was announced as the title sponsor of the Breeders' Cup Sprint, a horse race run as part of the annual Breeders' Cup championships in American thoroughbred racing. The sponsorship was part of a promotion to mark Cygames' planned English-language release of the Uma Musume Pretty Derby mobile game.[20]
Games developed
editMobile/web browser games
edit| Title | Original release date | Publisher(s) | Platforms | JP | WW | Notes / Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rage of Bahamut |
|
|
mobage | Yes | Terminated | |
| The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls |
|
mobage, Android, iOS, AndApp | Terminated | No | Servers were closed on March 30, 2023 | |
|
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
|
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
| Super Sentai Heroes |
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
| Battle Spirits: Hasha no Houkou |
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
| Sakatsuku S World Stars |
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
|
|
|
mobage | Terminated | No | |
| TIGER & BUNNY Lord of Hero |
|
mobage | Terminated | No | ||
| Sangokushi Puzzle Taisen |
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | |
| Knights of Glory[21] |
|
|
mobage | Terminated | No | |
| La Rudiaia Chronicle |
|
|
mobage | Terminated | No | |
| Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light |
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | Servers were closed on January 31, 2024 | |
| Granblue Fantasy |
|
|
|
Yes | No[b] | |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | Terminated | |
|
|
|
Ameba | Terminated | No | |
| LINE Paper Dash World |
|
LINE GAME | Terminated | No | ||
| The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage |
|
Android, iOS | Yes | No | ||
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | |
| Shadowverse |
|
|
Android, iOS, DMM Games, Microsoft Windows (through Steam) | Yes | Yes | |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Unreleased | No | Closed Beta Test was held in August, 2017 |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | Closed on December 27, 2022 |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | |
| Princess Connect! Re:Dive |
|
|
Android, iOS | Yes | Terminated | English servers were closed April 30, 2023 |
| Dragalia Lost |
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | Terminated | Servers were closed November 30, 2022 |
|
|
|
Android, iOS | Terminated | No | JP server were closed February 20, 2024. WW server were closed July 25, 2024. Chinese version is still active as for October 2024. |
| Uma Musume Pretty Derby |
|
Android, iOS, DMM Games | Yes | No | Current Active Servers: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China Mainland (4 in total) | |
| Eiyuu Gakuen Hero-ka |
|
|
TBA | Yes | No |
- ^ Japanese: 株式会社Cygames, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Saigēmusu
- ^ Granblue Fantasy is not formally available on app stores outside of Japan; however, the game client is fully localized into English with new updates on pace with Japanese content releases, there is no region locking and, so long as a user can navigate account creation in Japanese, the game can be freely accessed outside of Japan, and in-app purchases in currencies other than JPY are supported via PayPal or Google Play, meaning that the game and all features (save promotional events that require living in Japan) are available to English speakers.
Console/PC games
edit| Title | Original release date | Publisher(s) | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
PlayStation Vita |
|
Windows | ||
| The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls: Viewing Revolution | PlayStation VR | ||
| Anubis: Zone of the Enders -- M∀RS |
|
|
PlayStation 4, Windows |
|
|
PlayStation 4, Windows | |
| Shadowverse: Champion's Battle[24] |
|
|
Nintendo Switch |
|
|
|
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows |
|
Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | ||
|
|
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows | |
|
|
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows | |
| Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash
(Developed by Arc System Works) |
|
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows | |
|
|
PlayStation 4 | |
|
Console (TBA) | ||
| Untitled Metal Max project | Console (TBA) |
References
edit- ^ "Cygames – Press". Cygames.
- ^ "DeNA to buy into Cygames - Mobile World Live". 7 November 2012.
- ^ staff, Gamasutra, GD mag. "The top 10 game developers of 2012".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "株式会社CyDesignation". www.cydesignation.co.jp.
- ^ "Cygames – Corporate".
- ^ "Rage of Bahamut Developer Cygames Establishes Anime Company".
- ^ "Company - CygamesPictures". cygamespictures.co.jp.
- ^ "Cygames Makes Anime Background Studio Kusanagi Its Subsidiary".
- ^ "Cygames Announces "Project Awakening" for Current-Gen Home Consoles". 21 August 2016.
- ^ "Cygames opens PS4-focused Osaka studio - Gematsu". 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Granblue Fantasy's Cygames, Kodansha Launch Manga Label". Anime News Network. 28 May 2017.
- ^ 株式会社Cygames、株式会社小学館とWebコミック事業における業務提携を発表 新コミックスレーベル「サイコミ×裏サンデー」を創設. cygames.co.jp. Cygames. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ "格闘ゲームプレイヤー・梅原大吾、 スネーク・アイズ、PRバルログとのスポンサー契約締結、 ならびに、「Cygames Beast」発足に関するお知らせ - 株式会社Cygames".
- ^ "Cygames Jumps Into eSports By Signing Daigo Umehara, PR Balrog, And Snake Eyez". 2 March 2017.
- ^ "Data" (PDF). www.nintendo.co.jp.
- ^ "株式会社Cygames、音楽制作子会社を立ち上げ 株式会社Cymusic設立のお知らせ - 株式会社Cygames".
- ^ "Cygames Creates 3DCG Studio Subsidiary CySphere". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ Romano, Sal (April 27, 2023). "Cygames establishes Cygames America, Cygames Europe". Gematsu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ https://www.cygames.co.jp/en/csr/sports/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "BREEDERS' CUP ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH CYGAMES". breederscup.com. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
- ^ Steparu. "Knights of Glory Released | Steparu.com". steparu.com. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
- ^ "Odin Crown – Japanese studio announces new mobile MOBA | MMO Culture". mmoculture.com. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
- ^ a b The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls Viewing Revolution coming west on July 18, Gematsu, July 17, 2017
- ^ "Shadowverse: Champion's Battle launches November 5 in Japan, debut trailer and details". Gematsu. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
External links
edit- Official website
- Andriessen, CJ (12 Jul 2018), "Cygames has conquered mobile: Now it's coming for consoles", Destructoid