is a Japanese

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

producer. The company was founded in 1997 but formed in its current state in October 2011 by the merger of the original

Marvelous Entertainment (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the Story of Seasons (series), ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 an ...

with

AQ Interactive AQ Interactive, Inc. was a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. AQ stands for Artistic Quality. It was the parent company of the developers Artoon, Cavia (company), Cavia and feelplus, and most recently the U.S. pu ...

, and

Liveware Liveware was used in the computer industry as early as 1966 to refer to computer users, often in humorous contexts, by analogy with hardware and software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution ...

History

The announcement of merging Marvelous Entertainment Inc., AQ Interactive, Inc., Liveware Inc. in to Marvelous AQL Inc. on October 1, 2011 was originally proposed by Marvelous Entertainment Inc., and went effective on May 10, 2011. The plan would make Marvelous Entertainment Inc. the sole surviving entity after the merger, with Marvelous Entertainment Inc. renamed to Marvelous AQL Inc. on merger day. On December 22, 2011, MarvelousAQL Inc. announced the establishment of the overseas business department, with investment from Checkpoint Studios Inc., replacing the global strategy room, which dissolved on January 1, 2012. On October 25, 2012, MarvelousAQL Inc. announced its stock listing on the first section of the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

, effective on November 1, 2012. On January 1, 2013, MarvelousAQL Inc. established the amusement business division. The company's digital contents business division and amusement contents development division were moved into amusement business division, and was renamed as amusement development division. On February 1, 2013, MarvelousAQL Inc. established the digital contents business division. On July 1, 2014, MarvelousAQL Inc. was renamed as Marvelous Inc. On March 13, 2015, it was announced that Marvelous would acquire

mobile gaming A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

company

G-Mode is a Japanese company that specializes in games for Java-compatible mobile phones. The company also licenses content for mobile telecommunications operators, as well as being involved in the original equipment manufacturing of mobile phone games ...

. This includes

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. At one time, the company had annual sales of 20 billion yen in ...

IPs that G-Mode bought in 2004.

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...

acquired a 20% stake of Marvelous via new shares, approximately on May 26, 2020. On May 25, 2023, the company livestreamed its first ever digital showcase which featured the

syn Sophia , formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game developer, video game development studio located in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan, founded on June 19, 1995. The company is best known for its popular Professional wrestling, ...

-developed ''

Fashion Dreamer ''Fashion Dreamer'' is a fashion simulation game developed by syn Sophia and published by Marvelous for the Nintendo Switch. It was released in November 2023. Gameplay The player will work to become top fashion influencers by dressing up vari ...

'' and several newly announced upcoming games including a couple of new IPs tentatively titled ''PROJECT MAGIA'' and ''PROJECT LIFE is RPG'', several new entries in the flagship ''

Story of Seasons ''Story of Seasons'', known in Japan as and formerly known as ''Harvest Moon'', is an agricultural farming life simulation video game series created by Yasuhiro Wada and developed by Victor Interactive Software (acquired by Marvelous Enterta ...

'' and ''

Rune Factory is a franchise of fantasy role-playing video game, role-playing Social simulation game, social simulation games created by Yoshifumi Hashimoto and primarily published by Marvelous Inc, Marvelous. The games are developed by Hashimoto's studio Ma ...

'' series, and '' Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion'', a sequel to the original ''Daemon X Machina''.

Subsidiaries

Development

Current

Former

Publication and Distribution

Current

Former

Video games

Developed

Nintendo 3DS

* '' Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven'' * '' Kaio: King of Pirates'' (developed by

Comcept Level-5 Osaka Office is a Japanese video game developer and division of Level-5 based in Osaka. It is the successor to Level-5 Comcept, originally founded as Comcept, Inc. by former Capcom designer Keiji Inafune on December 1, 2010 as an indepe ...

) (cancelled) * '' Harvest Moon: A New Beginning'' * '' Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games'' (co-developed with and published by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

) * ''

Return to PopoloCrois ''Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale'', known in Japan as , is a 2015 farming simulation role-playing game developed by Epics and Marvelous and published by Marvelous for the Nintendo 3DS video game system. It is a crossover b ...

'' (co-developed with

epics Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

) * ''

Rune Factory 4 is a 2012 role-playing simulation game developed by Neverland and published by Marvelous AQL. It is the sixth game in the ''Rune Factory'' series. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in July 2012, in North America in October 2013, and ...

'' (developed by

Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. ...

) * ''

Senran Kagura is a multimedia franchise created by Kenichiro Takaki and developed primarily by Tamsoft and Marvelous. The series debuted in Japan in 2011 with the release of ''Senran Kagura: Shōjo-tachi no Shinei (Senran Kagura: Portrait of Girls)'' for t ...

'' * ''

Senran Kagura Burst ''Senran Kagura Burst'' is a side-scrolling hack and slash video game revolving around shinobi, developed by Tamsoft and the first entry in the ''Senran Kagura'' series. It was originally published for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan as ''Senran Kagura: ...

'' * '' Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson'' * ''

'' * '' Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns'' * ''

Monster Hunter Stories is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom and Marvelous (company), Marvelous and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a spinoff title in the ''Monster Hunter'' series and features a drastically different gameplay focus. Unlik ...

'' (co-developed with and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

)

Wii

* ''

Fortune Street is a party video game series originally created by ''Dragon Quest'' designer Yuji Horii. It is currently owned by Square Enix. The first game was released in Japan on Nintendo's Famicom console in 1991. Since then, new installments in the serie ...

'' (co-developed with

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

, published by Nintendo) * '' Harvest Moon: Animal Parade'' * '' Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility'' * ''

Rune Factory Frontier is a 2008 role-playing simulation game developed by Neverland and published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan, Xseed Games in North America, and Rising Star Games in Europe for the Wii. It is a spin-off in the ''Rune Factory'' series. Plot ...

'' (developed by Neverland) * '' Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny'' (developed by Neverland) * '' Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga''

Wii U

* ''Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games'' (co-developed with Sega, published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

)

Nintendo Switch

* ''

Daemon X Machina ''Daemon X Machina'' is a 2019 action game developed and published by Marvelous (company), Marvelous for the Nintendo Switch. A Windows port was released in 2020. A sequel, ''Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion'' is in development. Gameplay In the g ...

'' (Switch version published by Nintendo outside Japan) * '' Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star'' * '' Peach Ball: Senran Kagura'' * ''

Senran Kagura Reflexions is a multimedia franchise created by Kenichiro Takaki and developed primarily by Tamsoft and Marvelous. The series debuted in Japan in 2011 with the release of ''Senran Kagura: Shōjo-tachi no Shinei (Senran Kagura: Portrait of Girls)'' for t ...

'' * '' Fate/Extella Link'' * ''

God Eater 3 ''God Eater 3'' is an action role-playing game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Marvelous and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The third main entry in the ''God Eater'' series, the game was released for PlayStation 4 in Japan in Dece ...

'' * ''

Doraemon Story of Seasons ''Doraemon Story of Seasons'' is a 2019 farming simulation role-playing video game developed by Brownies and Marvelous and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for Nintendo Switch and Windows. It is a crossover of the ''Story of Seasons'' ...

'' (developed by Marvelous in collaboration with Brownies; Published by Bandai Namco in all regions) * ''

Rune Factory 4 Special is a 2012 role-playing simulation game developed by Neverland and published by Marvelous AQL. It is the sixth game in the ''Rune Factory'' series. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in July 2012, in North America in October 2013, and ...

'' (developed by Hakama with former

employees) * '' No More Heroes'' (

Engine Software Engine Software (formerly MSX-Engine) is a Dutch video game developer, located in Doetinchem, Netherlands, which specialized in handheld video games and digital platforms until 2011. In the period after (2011-present) they have become more active ...

; originally developed by

Grasshopper Manufacture is a Japanese video game developer founded on March 30, 1998 by Goichi Suda. They are well known for creating titles such as '' killer7'' and the '' No More Heroes'' series. History The company was founded on March 30, 1998 in Suginami, J ...

) * '' No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle'' (

; originally developed by

) * ''

No More Heroes III is a 2021 action-adventure game developed and published by Grasshopper Manufacture for the Nintendo Switch. Marvelous published the game in Japan. It is the fourth installment in the ''No More Heroes'' series and is the third mainline entry i ...

'' (developed by

, only published in Japan) * ''

Rune Factory 5 is a 2021 role-playing video game, role-playing simulation game by Marvelous (company), Marvelous. The first entry in the ''Rune Factory'' series since ''Rune Factory 4'' (2012), it was released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan in May 2021 and ...

'' (developed by Hakama) * '' Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town'' * ''Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town'' * '' Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin'' (co-developed with and published by

) * ''

'' (developed by

Syn Sophia , formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game developer, video game development studio located in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan, founded on June 19, 1995. The company is best known for its popular Professional wrestling, ...

) * '' Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life'' * ''

Farmagia ''Farmagia'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese action role-playing video game developed and published by Marvelous, with character designs by manga artist Hiro Mashima. It was released worldwide for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Steam on ...

PlayStation 3

* '' Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny'' (developed by

) * '' Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel'' (developed by

Examu Examu, formerly known as Yuki Enterprise, was a Japanese video game company founded in 2000. It mostly produced fighting games for arcades and home consoles. It is known for owning Team Arcana, the developer of the original intellectual propert ...

and co-publish with

Nitroplus Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They have also coll ...

)

PlayStation Portable

* ''

English Detective Mysteria ''London Detective Mysteria'' is a 2013 '' otome'' visual novel video game for the PlayStation Portable created by Karin Entertainment and published by Marvelous in Japan. In 2016, Karin Entertainment self-published a PlayStation Vita port know ...

'' * ''

Fate/Extra ''Fate/Extra'' (stylized as ''Fate/EXTRA'') is a dungeon crawler role-playing game developed by Type-Moon and Imageepoch and published by Marvelous Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. The game takes place in a parallel universe to ...

'' * ''

Fate/Extra CCC ''Fate/Extra'' (stylized as ''Fate/EXTRA'') is a dungeon crawler role-playing game developed by Type-Moon and Imageepoch and published by Marvelous Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. The game takes place in a parallel universe to ...

'' * ''

Valhalla Knights is a 2006 fantasy action role-playing game developed by K2 LLC and published by Marvelous Entertainment for Sony PlayStation Portable. Story In a realm forgotten by history, humans, elves, halflings and other assorted races lived together in ha ...

'' * ''

Valhalla Knights 2 is a role-playing video game developed by K2 for the PlayStation Portable. It is the sequel to ''Valhalla Knights''. Plot Every 1000 years, the Goddess of Judgement punishes mankind for their ways. This time, however, a witch fought her but f ...

PlayStation Vita

* ''Browser Sangokushi Next'' (

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

) * ''

IA/VT Colorful ''IA/VT Colorful'' is a rhythm game for the PlayStation Vita developed by Marvelous (company), Marvelous, and is based on Vocaloid's ''IA (software), IA Project''. It was released in Japan on July 30, 2015. Development The lead developer of the ga ...

'' * '' Muramasa: Rebirth'' * ''

New Little King's Story ''Little King's Story'' is a real-time strategy life simulation role-playing video game co-developed by Cing and Town Factory for the Nintendo Wii. The game was published by Rising Star Games in Australia on April 22, 2009, and Europe on April 24 ...

'' (developed / published by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

) * '' Senran Kagura Bon Appétit!'' * ''

Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus is a 2013 action video game developed by Tamsoft, and the second main (third overall) title in the ''Senran Kagura'' series as the sequel to '' Senran Kagura Burst''. The game revolves around four female ninja groups from dueling shinobi schools. ...

'' * '' Soul Sacrifice'' (co-developed / published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

) * '' Soul Sacrifice Delta'' (co-developed / published by

) * ''

Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz ''Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz'' is a 2012 Platformer, platform video game developed by Marvelous AQL and published by Sega for the PlayStation Vita. Similar to other entries in the ''Super Monkey Ball'' series, the game involves the player d ...

'' (published by

) * ''Uppers'' * ''

Valhalla Knights 3 is a role-playing video game for the PlayStation Vita published by Marvelous AQL. It is the sequel to '' Valhalla Knights 2'' and is the fourth game in the ''Valhalla Knights'' video game series. The game was originally planned to be released in J ...

'' (developed by K2 LLC) * '' Valhalla Knights 3 Gold'' * '' Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming'' (developed by Opus) * '' Senran Kagura: Estival Versus'' * '' Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star'' * ''Net High''

PlayStation 4

* '' Senran Kagura: Estival Versus'' * '' Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash'' *'' Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal'' * '' Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel'' (developed by

and co-published with

) * '' Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star'' * ''

'' (developed by Marvelous First Studio and published by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

) * '' Fate/Extella Link'' * '' Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes'' * ''

Kandagawa Jet Girls is a multimedia project created by Kadokawa, Marvelous, and Egg Firm. An anime television series by TNK aired from October 2019 to January 2020. A racing game published by Marvelous and developed by its subsidiary Honey∞Parade Games was re ...

'' (developed by Honey∞Parade Games, a subsidiary of Marvelous) * '' Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town'' * ''

'' (developed by Hakama)

Playstation 5

* ''Farmagia''

Xbox One

* '' Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town'' * ''

'' (developed by Hakama)

Microsoft Windows

* '' Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy'' * ''

Skullgirls ''Skullgirls'' is a 2012 fighting game, fighting video game developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games, originally released digitally for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and ported to various other home and portable systems afterwards. ...

'' (formerly) * '' Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming'' (developed by Opus) * '' Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star'' * ''

Bullet Witch is a third-person shooter developed by Cavia (company), Cavia for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It was released in Japan in 2006, and in Western regions in 2007; AQ Interactive published the game in Japan, while Atari SA, Atari Europe was ...

'' * ''

'' (Developed by Marvelous in collaboration with Brownies; Published by Bandai Namco in all regions) * '' Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes'' * ''

'' * '' Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town'' * '' No More Heroes'' (

; originally developed by

) * '' No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle'' (

; originally developed by

) * ''

'' (developed by Hakama) * ''Farmagia''

Arcade

*
Pokémon Battario
' *
Pokémon Tretta
' *
Pokémon Ga-Olé
' *
Pokémon Mezastar
' *
Pokémon Frienda
' * '' Tatakae! Dragon Quest Scan Battlers'' * '' Wacca''

Mobile

* ''RunBot'' (developed by Bravo Game Studios) * ''Puzzle Coaster'' (developed by Bravo Game Studios) * ''Eyes Attack'' (developed by Alexander Murzanaev) * ''Osomatsu-san NEET Island'' * ''Shinobi Master Senran Kagura: New Link'' (developed by Honey ∞ Parade Games) * '' Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star'' * '' Fate/Extella Link''

Browser game

* ''Logres of Swords and Sorcery''

Published

* ''

Freedom Planet 2 ''Freedom Planet 2'' is an indie Platform game, platform video game developed and published by GalaxyTrail for Windows, and published by Xseed Games on home consoles. It is the sequel to ''Freedom Planet'', originally developed as a ''Sonic the He ...

Anime

*'' Aura: Maryūinkōga Saigo no Tatakai'' *''

Cat God , also known as ''Cat God'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by FLIPFLOPs about a cat goddess that lives in an antique shop. An anime television adaptation by AIC PLUS+ aired in Japan between July and September 2011 and ha ...

'' *''

Gunslinger Girl ''Gunslinger Girl'' (stylized in small caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yu Aida. It was serialized in '' Dengeki Daioh'' magazine from May 2002 to September 2012. Its chapters were collected in 15 ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' *''Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-'' *''Suite PreCure: Take it back! The Miraculous Melody that Connects Hearts!'' *''HHH Triple Ecchi'' *''

Humanity Has Declined , or for short, is a Japanese light novel series written by Romeo Tanaka. The novels originally featured illustrations by Tōru Yamasaki for the first six volumes, but Yamasaki was replaced by Sunaho Tobe in 2011. Shogakukan published 11 ...

'' *'' (The) Prince of Tennis II'' *''

Princess Tutu is a Japanese anime television series created by Ikuko Itoh and directed by Junichi Sato and Shogo Koumoto. Inspired by ballet and fairy tales, particularly '' The Ugly Duckling'' and ''Swan Lake'', its story follows a duck who is transfor ...

'' *''

Prism Ark is a Japanese Eroge, erotic video game and the sequel of ''Prism Heart'' developed by Pajamas Soft. Its first release was on August 25, 2006. This work contains adult-only content of a sexual nature. An anime entitled ''Prism Ark'' bega ...

'' *''Ring ni Kakero 1: Shadow *''Saint Beast: Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan'' *''

'' *''Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master -Tokyo Yōma-hen-'' *''

Tokyo Majin ''Tokyo Majin'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime series, which premiered in Japan on the anime Communications satellite, satellite TV network Animax. Part of the ''Tokyo Majin Gakuen'' franchise, it is loosely based on a Japan-exclusive ...

'' *''Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou 2nd Act'' *''

Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from September 2011 to September 2014, with its chapters collected in 14 vo ...

'' *'' We Without Wings: Under the Innocent Sky'' *''

Sengoku Night Blood was a Japanese free-to-play otome game, developed as a collaboration between Marvelous Entertainment, Kadokawa, and Idea Factory's Otomate. It was released in Japan on May 29, 2017, for Android and iOS devices. A 12-episode anime television s ...

'' *''

Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...

References

External links

* *
LINKTHINK Inc. page
* {{Authority control Video game companies established in 1997 Mass media companies established in 1997 Anime companies Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Japanese companies established in 1997 Tencent Mass media companies based in Tokyo Software companies based in Tokyo Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game publishers Japanese brands 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2002 initial public offerings Shinagawa