The Japanese portal Myjitsu shared an article discussing the purchase of the visual novel developer and distributor, Visual Arts/Key , which is now part of the Chinese giant Tencent . Fans of brands like " CLANNAD ", " Kanon ", among others produced by this company keep wondering what will happen in the future.
« Visual Arts, better known by its developer “Key”, announced that it will become a subsidiary of the Chinese video game giant, Tencent. It seems that a large number of fans have emerged who are concerned about the future of this popular developer and distributor of bishojo visual novels ».
« Speaking of the developer “Key”, owned by Visual Arts, they have released visual novels considered as “masterpieces”, such as “ Kanon ”, AIR ”, “ CLANNAD ”, “ Little Busters! ", among many others. They recently launched the “ Heaven Burns Red ” smartphone game , which has become a moderate success for the company ».
« Tencent, on the other hand, is one of the largest video game companies in the world. Riot Games, known for "League of Legends" and "VALORANT", is now part of the Chinese giant. According to the announcement, Visual Arts will become part of Tencent in the form of a merger and acquisition, but fans remain concerned that the company will be able to continue producing the same works as before. President Takahiro Baba has also been announced to step down and a new management team will be formed, and fans are increasingly eager for their beloved Visual Arts to change ."
« However, as Baba has declared on his blog on the official website, Visual Arts will continue to produce visual novels, anime and games for smartphones as before. He stressed that the conversion into a subsidiary was a measure to prepare for Baba's courageous retirement and that “Visual Arts will remain Visual Arts” ».
« However, speaking of the bishojo game industry in recent years, long-running brands such as “Giga ” and 3D game brand “ILLUSION” have ceased their activities one after another. There is no doubt that the Japanese bishojo video game culture that has grown in the last 20-30 years is in danger of decline ».
« A source commented on it: “Lately, Visual Arts only makes games for all ages. Last year, the adult game business was transferred to e-Products Co. In previous interviews with Baba, it seems that he has long felt the limits of the bishojo game industry as a business .” The decline of the bishojo game industry is nothing new, but there are some brands that have caught the eye ».
« Among them are “Qruppo”, which this year released a foreign version of Nukitashi on Steam, and “Yuzusoft”, which for some reason is popular with the younger generation. The very genre of text-based games, the so-called “visual novels”, is still popular, so hope may not have been lost. How will the traditional arts that have driven otaku culture in Japan survive in the future? ».
Fuente: Myjitsu
