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 ...

. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s, most notably the ''

Disgaea is a video game series, series of tactical role-playing game, tactical role-playing video games created and developed by Nippon Ichi. The series debuted in Japan on January 30, 2003 in video gaming, 2003, with ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'', later ...

'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character Prinny. NIS America, a localization and global publishing branch of the company, was founded in 2003. It originally focused solely on the North American market until being expanded to include Europe and other regions in 2007 and has also published

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 ...

History

Nippon Ichi Software was founded in September 1991 in

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

, Japan, as an entertainment software company. It was relocated and reincorporated on July 12, 1993. The company has made several acquisitions, mergers, and forming new subsidiaries. In the early 2010s, the company formed Nippon Ichi Software Asia Pte. Ltd and Nippon Ichi Software Vietnam Co., Ltd. In 2016, NIS merged with System Prisma Corporation and acquired developer FOG Inc. In 2012, the company was awarded the Guinness World Record for being the company that released the most strategy RPGs. The company has developed a number of traditional

s. Many characters from previous games make their way into later games as secret characters, even though their respective games may not be directly connected. Their flagship franchise, ''

'', takes place in the same universe.

Games

Nippon Ichi Indie Spirits

Nippon Ichi Indie Spirits, a label under which the company localises non-Japanese indie games for the Japanese market, was formed on December 28, 2016. The label's first games, '' Nidhogg'', ''Back to Bed'', and '' Emily Wants to Play'', were released in February 2017. All games that are published through this program are only released digitally.

NIS America

NIS America, a localization and global publishing branch of Nippon Ichi Software, was founded on December 24, 2003. Based in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, it originally focused solely on the North American market until being expanded to include Europe and other regions in 2007. The branch was the result of the company's wish to focus on international publication of their works in the United States, given the increased popularity of their games outside of Japan. Prior to 2003, NIS games were released in English by contracted publishers. Some of the company's more well-known releases include entries in the '' Atelier'', '' Ys'', and '' Trails'' series, among others.

Games

Anime

Personnel

Kenzo Saruhashi is the representative director and president of Nippon Ichi Software, having succeeded Tetsuhisa Seko who died in January 2025. Takehito Harada is the chief executive officer and video game artist of subsidiary Studio ToOefuf whose art has been featured in video games such as ''

'', '' Phantom Brave'', '' Makai Kingdom'', and '' Fate/Grand Order''.

Notes

References

External links

* * (NIS America) {{Authority control Amusement companies of Japan Anime companies Japanese companies established in 1991 Video game companies established in 1991 Home video companies of the United States Japanese brands Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game publishers Companies based in Gifu Prefecture Kakamigahara, Gifu