Marvelous focuses on PSP development in fiscal 2011

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given the company's recent executive pay cuts and low sales figures, that Marvelous Entertainment is looking to cut costs in fiscal 2011 by reducing its lineup of games slightly. Siliconera points out a slide from the company's latest earnings report (Japanese PDF downloadable at the bottom of the window) that shows only ten releases for the period between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011. That's down two from the previous year. The biggest move comes from the DS lineup, which is reduced from six games to just one.

Also unsurprisingly, Marvelous is putting emphasis on PSP games. PSP development was the segment of Marvelous's game business that paid off in the last year, and the publisher is putting out more games there -- four -- than anywhere else in fiscal 2011. That includes the RPG Fate/Extra and the humiliating fighter Ikki Tousen: Xross Impact, as well as two currently unannounced games.

The rest of Marvelous's lineup includes the already-released No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise on PS3 and 360, Harvest Moon: Twins' Village on DS, one unknown PS3 game, and two unknown Wii games.

[Via Siliconera]

Reader Comments (18)

"Xross Impact" is hilarious.

Well looks like we get to keep our fan service!

As long as they focus on Japanese PSP development they should be okay.

If they want their business model to be about LOSING money, then western PSP development is their best bet.

So they complained about their games not selling well on the Wii so they're going to Focus on PSP sales?

Reading helps...

"Also unsurprisingly, Marvelous is putting emphasis on PSP games. PSP development was the segment of Marvelous's game business that paid off in the last year, "

See, that isn't hard, is it?

I'm curious if that was in just Japan or global. If it was Japan only makes sense, if it was international then I'm confused like none other.

And if Marv plans to focus on PSP dev globally, like they focused on Wii Dev globally, I highly doubt they'll be happier then they were with Wii sales.

the kind of games that Marvelous publishes are totally Japan-centric. strangely, that seems to be the odd niche that the PSP fills over here in the US. i just got one a few months ago, and i have to say- if you love Japanese games, then the PSP is your system. even if they don't have huge sales in the west, i'm sure that the huge profits they make in Japan more than make up for the cost of translation and publishing in the US (even if their games aren't popular). like Atlus, they are beginning to enjoy a small but dedicated following. i hope their plan works, since i really like these guys. they publish some cool games.

"if you love Japanese games, then the PSP is your system"

I read that and was reminded that half of my PSP UMD collection is made up of imports (i.e., Japan-region games). I don't have any Marvelous-published PSP games, though, and Fate/EXTRA will likely be the first PSP Fate game that I *don't* get. Not just because it's an RPG (and therefore kanji-heavy . . .), but also because that sudden release date delay gives me the feeling it's not turning out well.

As for Xross Impact, it will probably sell well enough to justify their continuing to make more Ikki Tousen games. I can't figure out how all these companies can turn a profit selling SO much Ikki Tousen merchandise (the number of Kanu Unchou figures that have been released by different companies is staggering) to what can't possibly be THAT large an audience. But, I guess they're profiting nonetheless, because they just keep making more.

i hope no more heroes:heroes paradise for ps3 is coming here to the states. i have the game on wii and it's great and i want to see the extra content.

Just import it. The game's in English, only Japanese part is the subs, which I believe you can turn off. Other then that 100% english, and PS3 can play all imports aslong as you play above 480P.

^ why hold back on releasing it in the States? I'd buy it immediately if the ps3 version were released here.

Are they holding back in order to incorporate changes for the Move and Natal controllers?

It's probably not coming to the rest of the world at all, at the rate it's been selling in Japan (slightly better than Wii, but likely not enough to break even).

It's not coming world wide because Marv did that without Suda's team, and Ubisoft has said they wont publish it. Also Suda is 100% against the port too.

Damn. Can you import the 360 version as well? I've been hoping for a state-side release too.

Man, I hate to see them hurting, after all the interesting stuff they've done over the years.

Personally, I think they've hurt their core Harvest Moon customer base by releasing too many HM titles. Maybe if they pushed for more innovation in their HM titles and a little less repetition ( of course that is what those games are all about) they could have maintained a base income those titles generated.

I hope it is not too little too late with their expansion of No More Heroes to other platforms.

Hurt the core base by releasing too many? No sir, I believe it's the other way around.

Considering the Harvest Moon and Rune Factory series is more successful here in the states, they're LOSING money by not getting their figurative shit in gear and getting titles like RF3, Welcome to the Wind Bazaar! and Twin Villages over here in the states.

Also, the series is overdue, IMHO, for a new Wii title. Tree of Tranquility was good and all, but just short of being amazing.

There's rumors though that Rune Factory 3 will be officially announced as being localized at E3. Cross your fingers and hope this is true...

Harvest moon is Natsume, Marvelous is a publisher....Though both companies would be smart if they put a proper Harvest Moon game on the App store for Apple and let it have social integration on it. Or even a Facebook Harvest Moon game.

I also think they are focusing on PSP because the digital PSN store is probably a safer way for profits as it doesn't succumb to used game sales and/or unwanted price reduction since they control that. Yes people, there is a benefit to digital games. lol It helps keep the good small publishers alive.

I want them to succeed. They release games no one else does.

Marvelous focuses on PSP development in fiscal 2011

Reader Comments (18)

Posted: May 25th 2010 11:08PM Acosta02 said

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