Ruby Party (, ''Rubī Pātī'') is the Japanese brand name of

Koei Tecmo Holdings is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Games ...

' women-based game development team.(ja
Ruby Party Brand
Koei website (retrieved 17 April 2022. The team was established around 1990 by

Keiko Erikawa Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

. The team has mainly been producing the ''Neo Romance'' series, a series of

otome games An , is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main idea/goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player/main character and one of the second-lead male characters. His ...

aimed at women. The first title released in this series is '' Angelique'', released in 1994, and which is known as the first otome game in the world.(ja
Interview to Shibuya Ko and Keiko Erikawa
(retrieved 25 February 2022)

History

In around 1985, Erikawa was developing various games with her husband

Yōichi Erikawa Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

. But the games in those days were all targeted to males. Erikawa thought it was strange that games aimed at women did not exist. There were almost no female staff in Koei at that point. Therefore, she started to recruit women as staff members, leading to an all-female development group within Koei, forming the Ruby Party team.(ja
Interview to Keiko Erikawa, 2015
(retrieved 17 April 2022) The first product of this team was the game ''Angelique'' in 1994. However, the team Ruby Party did not develop the game by itself.

and his mainly male developing staff at

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on ...

helped with the completion of ''Angelique''. In an 2018 Interview with

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...

, Ruby Party president Mei Erikawa mentioned that, initially, there was strong resistance within Koei to develop a video game specifically marketed toward women, however Keiko Erikawa was firm in her belief that there's an untapped market, citing that "there are just as many women in the world as men". As at the time there weren't many female gamers, Keiko Erikawa also began experimenting with

mixed-media In visual art, mixed media describes work of art, artwork in which more than one Art medium, medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different List of art media, media. M ...

, planning

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s and

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

along the video game, instead of just magazine and TV advertisements, which were common at the time. Although it was not an immediate huge success, the mixed-media approach lent to ''Angelique'' gaining massive popularity after its release. After the release of ''Angelique'', Ruby Party has developed many otome games and planned various related projects such as OVAs, drama CDs, music CDs, anime, and live events. Ruby Party has since become one of most influential developers of

otome game An , is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main idea/goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player/main character and one of the second-lead male characters. His ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

s and

dating sim Dating sims, or , are video game subgenre of simulation games with romantic elements. Dating sims are often dialog-heavy and focus on time management. The player must befriend and carefully build and maintain a relationship with one or more ...

s, as the '' Angelique'' series pioneered the

genre. ''

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de is an otome adventure game developed by Ruby Party and published by Koei. It is a part of Ruby Party's Neoromance label. Because of ''Harukanaru Toki no Naka de''s success, the game has given rise to a franchise including several sequ ...

'' had become a major hit for Ruby Party, spawning multiple sequels and an

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series. 2003's ''

La Corda d'Oro is a Japanese role-playing game series targeted at a female demographic audience from Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynas ...

'' had also become an international success for Ruby Party, also spawning multiple anime adaptions and sequels. A

series based on it was picked up by ''

Viz Viz may refer to: *''viz.'', a synonym for “namely” * ''Viz'' (comics), a British adult comic magazine **'' Viz: The Game'', a computer game based on the comic *Viz Media, an American manga and anime distribution and entertainment company *"V ...

'' for

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

publishing. In 2022, Ruby Party released ''

Buddy Mission Bond ''Buddy Mission Bond'' is a 2021 adventure video game developed by Ruby Party and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It has character design by mangaka Yusuke Murata. The game was revealed at a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase o ...

'', published by Nintendo. They were approached by Nintendo during the development of the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

, who where looking to diversify the line-up of games for their upcoming

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

. The project was greenlit by Nintendo in 2016. At the time, ''Buddy Mission Bond'' was intended to be a traditional Ruby Party otome game, however during the game's development, the scale of the project continuously grew, until it went beyond its initial goal. Unlike Ruby Party's usual output, ''Buddy Mission Bond'' aimed for a wider appeal. Mei Erikawa said that it was a collaborative effort with Nintendo, as it wasn't an otome game, citing their inspiration to be shounen manga, and that the development was challenge for the team, which had never worked in that genre before.

Name

"Ruby Party" was named after the fact that the jewel ''ruby'' is considered to be the queen of jewelry, and it symbolizes passion and genuine love.

Products

Neo Romance series

* '' Angelique series'' * ''

'' series ''(Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time)'' * ''

Kin'iro no Corda is a Japanese role-playing game series targeted at a female demographic audience from Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynas ...

'' series ''(La Corda d'Oro)'' * ''

Neo Angelique is a Japanese otome game series and media franchise. There are various OVAs, Drama CDs, Music CDs and Anime series, developed along with the base game, or broadcast on TV channels, etc. The series began in 1994 and has contin ...

'' series * ''Geten no Hana'' (), (2012,

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

) * ''Miss Princess, Mispri'' (), (2011, Nintendo DS) - Based on a manga from

Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include ''Princess Knight ...

* ''Love phi Summit'' (),　(2010, mobile) - A cell phone game novel from the CWS Brains Ikebukuro Otome Kei service, defunct as of September 30, 2013. A side story was released as a

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language ...

on October 15, 2010 by B's LOG Bunko. A manga version ran in Comic B's LOG Kyun alongside Neoromance title ''Sengoku Angelique''. A

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous ci ...

-exclusive anime was broadcast from November 27 to December 24, 2009, featuring theme song "Day by Day" by

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

band D.

Other games

*''FabStyle'' (2011, Nintendo DS and

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

) *'' Attack on Titan: Escape from Certain Death''() (2017, Nintendo 3DS) * ''

'' (2021,

) * '' Touken Ranbu Warriors'' () (February 17, 2022,

and PC)

Notes and references

External links

* (ja
Official Neo Romance site
* (ja
Ruby Party in Koeitecmo
{{Koei Tecmo Koei Tecmo 1990s_establishments Video game development companies Japanese brands 21st-century Japanese businesswomen 21st-century Japanese businesspeople