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Level-5 NA studios has a small skeleten crew working on games since August 2019

Luckett_X

Luckett_X

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Oct 25, 2017
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One of Level-5's main issues back in the day was the insane time it took for their games to get translated and released in the west, sometimes taking entire generations. In that time all buzz would die or there would be sequels that looked better and were more desired, creating a vicious ambivalence loop. So clearly the answer is to go backwards from even that and just... not release in other markets? Make... less money?

Then I have to remind myself that Hino bought Comcept and hired Inafune and its all just a glorious bundle of fail.
 

Deleted member 10737

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i'm shocked they're still around in any capacity tbh.
level-5 have been making like 30 bad decisions in a row now, such a shame too since they used to be so good.
 

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I still don't understand what happened. What "fall" was there? They are still making excellent games.
 
Indy_Rex

Indy_Rex

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Sep 20, 2020
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Someone needs to purchase Level 5. Whether it's Nintendo or Sony, seeing them slowly die out like this is pretty rough.
 
Vash

Vash

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Oct 28, 2017
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Raigor said:
It went really well with SEGA when they expanded SEGA Europe and started acquiring studios, it's all about having a clear vision and make products that people want.
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Yeah, but in SEGA's case they got some studios who were very successful already, like Creative Assembly, and Sports Interactive (do not underestimate the power of Football Manager), and they had some experience with their Sega of America branch as well that had some smaller studios in the 90s. Those American studios were all dissolved though during the fall of SEGA. One was sold to Activision.

The acquisition of CA and SI was a first small step, and thanks to both studios being well established already, they managed to create a solid foundation. Sega didn't try and build a new wing from the ground up, which is different from what Level-5, and others, have tried to do.
 
MoogleMaestro

MoogleMaestro

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Oct 25, 2017
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I want to make a LTTP thread at some point, but I just played through Layton Mystery Journey recently and had some thoughts about it.

This is a shame, but frankly I never knew they had a NA division. Were they in charge of development or localization efforts?
 
Strings

Strings

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Oct 27, 2017
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Peltz said:
I still don't understand what happened. What "fall" was there? They are still making excellent games.
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There is a huge hate boner for everything Level-5 does in the Media Create threads, with a bunch of posters unable to separate sales (which have declined a decent bit in Japan) and game quality (which has dipped, but is still very good). I wouldn't take it too seriously.
 

Ozzie

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Jan 12, 2018
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Joni said:
Their success was heavily tied to handhelds, so in a post-traditional handheld world, it is no surprise they need to downsize to refocus on their traditional strengths.
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What's even worse, Level 5 actually bet against the Switch thinking it would fail. Yokai Watch 4 was rushed.
 
Fuertisimo

Fuertisimo

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Oct 27, 2017
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Nintendo should scoop them up and manage the IPs proper. Fantasy is one of my favorite 3DS games what a shame.
 
DanarchyReigns

DanarchyReigns

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Oct 25, 2017
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Writing was on the wall for a while. I remember seeing the Glassdoor review for Level-5 Abby a while ago, and each one basically said the same thing.
www.glassdoor.com

LEVEL-5 abby Reviews

4 LEVEL-5 abby reviews. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees.
www.glassdoor.com www.glassdoor.com

If they want to try international outreach again, the only thing they can do is partner up with an actually successful company. Bamco or Koei-Tecmo could probably pick them up.
 

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Oct 27, 2017
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Wikipedia say the Yokai Watch games for 3DS were published worldwide by Nintendo. I guess they help a bit with the localization.
 
Ridley327

Ridley327

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Oct 25, 2017
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asagami_ said:
Wikipedia say the Yokai Watch games for 3DS were published worldwide by Nintendo. I guess they help a bit with the localization.
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They helped, but they were still held up by Level-5's multimedia plans that insisted on launching it all at once. Nintendo can only do so much when they're largely acting in a retail distribution position for their games. And with the wrench that Level-5 threw in for YW4 getting a late PS4 port, who even knows if they'll go for it again.
 
Kalor

Kalor

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Oct 25, 2017
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I imagine they'll partner with someone for localizations, like Namco can handle Ni No Kuni 3. Level-5 is in a real weird spot with the way they've handled their franchises towards the tail end of the 3DS era. Their mobile efforts seem to be doing decently in Japan but the console side has declined pretty quickly. NNK2 started solidly but it just felt rushed and thin the more you played, not remotely comparing to how great the first game was. Same with the last Layton which was weaker than any of the main 6 games. The delay in localization for most of their games certainly doesn't help. Like the massive delay the Yokai games had and still have, although that seems to be tied up in their international offices being poorly managed apparently.
 
Delaney

Delaney

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Oct 25, 2017
3,259
Inazuma Eleven Ares will save the company, we just gotta wait until our grandchildren can play it.
 
Joni

Joni

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Oct 27, 2017
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Necron said:
Man, Rogue Galaxy, Dark Chronicles, Dragon Quest VIII are legendary PS2 games.

Ni No Kuni 1 & 2 weren't that bad either... it all seems so far removed now.
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I wonder if there is a studio that has five better games as their first five. Even Jeanne d'Arc was great.
 
rhandino

rhandino

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Oct 25, 2017
2,634
Delaney said:
Inazuma Eleven Ares will save the company, we just gotta wait until our grandchildren can play it.
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You mean Inazuma Eleven: Heroe's Great Road? 😄

www.nintendolife.com

Inazuma Eleven Ares Gets A New Name And A Delay To 2020

Inazuma Eleven: Heroes’ Great Road
www.nintendolife.com www.nintendolife.com

which also

www.gematsu.com

Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes delayed to 2021 in Japan, new details

Level-5 has delayed Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes from its previously planned spring 2020 release in Japan to “likely” 2021, as well as shared a development update and new inform…
www.gematsu.com www.gematsu.com

hlI7zde.gif
 
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
I cannot stress enough how horrible Megaton Musashi looks

Level 5's CEO is an idiot

things started going downhill with White Knight Chronicles honestly

and their insistence on never bothering to hire a competent writer
 
delete12345

delete12345

One Winged Slayer
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Nov 17, 2017
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Rotobit said:
Yo-Kai Watch would have had the staying power if they handled it better overseas. Hard to make a phenomenon nowadays when it doesn't have a worldwide reach. Honestly Nintendo was probably the worst choice to partner with in that regard.
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I don't know how you would market this when at the time of the announcement of Yokai Watch, the PS4 playerbase are mostly for players who are seeking cinematic, realistic, and adventurous games, while the 3DS has basically a lockdown market on younger audiences. Yokai Watch's main target demographic is the elementary kids.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

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Oct 27, 2017
16,496
Atheerios said:
"One source suggested that there were currently no concrete plans for any more Level-5 games to be released outside of Japan"
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Fuck.

Come on level 5, at least do a professor Layton trilogy ported to switch from the HD phone releases before you go kick the bucket. That at least has to be easy money?
 
Oregano

Oregano

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Oct 25, 2017
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asagami_ said:
Wikipedia say the Yokai Watch games for 3DS were published worldwide by Nintendo. I guess they help a bit with the localization.
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Dardan Sandiego said:
They used to but with L5 going multiplat they probably want a different partner for their international releases.
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DanarchyReigns said:
Considering YW4 has a PS4 version too, it's likely Nintendo isn't going to help with that one. If it's still coming overseas and wasn't cancelled.
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Ridley327 said:
They helped, but they were still held up by Level-5's multimedia plans that insisted on launching it all at once. Nintendo can only do so much when they're largely acting in a retail distribution position for their games. And with the wrench that Level-5 threw in for YW4 getting a late PS4 port, who even knows if they'll go for it again.
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Hino also said he wasn't happy with Yo-Kai Watch's sales outside of Japan, after all it was only a million seller.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

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Peltz said:
I still don't understand what happened. What "fall" was there? They are still making excellent games.
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Game sales for previously successful series like Layton, Yokai watch slowly but steadily collapsed, arguably quality dropped, burnt quite a bit of money on frankly unnecessary media crossovers, and they've had numerous delays on titles that have been in development for a long time. That's about as much a fall as I can imagine for a videogame company.
 
Com_Raven

Com_Raven

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Oct 27, 2017
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DanarchyReigns said:
Writing was on the wall for a while. I remember seeing the Glassdoor review for Level-5 Abby a while ago, and each one basically said the same thing.
www.glassdoor.com

LEVEL-5 abby Reviews

4 LEVEL-5 abby reviews. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees.
www.glassdoor.com www.glassdoor.com
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Wow, I have seen companies that were late with their salaries for months in a row get much better GD reviews. Sounds like a nightmare :(

Joni said:
I wonder if there is a studio that has five better games as their first five. Even Jeanne d'Arc was great.
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Depends on what criteria (reviews, sales, cultural impact) you want to apply, I guess? There are a couple developers that had a hell of a run with their first few games; Infinity Ward, Respawn, BioWare, Ensemble Studios, id etc. come to mind.
 
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NeonZ

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Joni said:
Their success was heavily tied to handhelds, so in a post-traditional handheld world, it is no surprise they need to downsize to refocus on their traditional strengths.
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They could have transitioned smoothly to the Switch, but they initially bet on it flopping and so that took longer than it should have.
 

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Joni said:
Their success was heavily tied to handhelds, so in a post-traditional handheld world, it is no surprise they need to downsize to refocus on their traditional strengths.
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Level-5's downfall has nothing to do with the console they develop for and all to do with Hino's wet dreams of mobile/multiplatform/multimedia projects. They were losing steam fast late in the 3DS lifecycle already, losing Nintendo's support in favor of a NSW/PS4/mobile development cycle only accelerated their decline.

Peltz said:
I still don't understand what happened. What "fall" was there? They are still making excellent games.
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Are they? Pretty much their entire pipeline is in some stage of development hell.

FormatCompatible said:
Hino has been making bad decision after bad decision for a while now. Fuck's sake they bought Comcept! Now I just wonder for how long L5 will last before some huge corporation buys them.
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Indy_Rex said:
Someone needs to purchase Level 5. Whether it's Nintendo or Sony, seeing them slowly die out like this is pretty rough.
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Fuertisimo said:
Nintendo should scoop them up and manage the IPs proper. Fantasy is one of my favorite 3DS games what a shame.
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L-5 and their IPs are worthless to anyone, there is no commercial value in some dead children IPs.

Atheerios said:
"One source suggested that there were currently no concrete plans for any more Level-5 games to be released outside of Japan"
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No surprise, they relied heavily on Nintendo for that.
 
DanarchyReigns

DanarchyReigns

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Oct 25, 2017
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Com_Raven said:
Wow, I have seen companies that were late their salaries for months in a row get much better GD reviews. Sounds like a nightmare :(
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The /v/ thread about this story linked an old archived thread from last year that seems to also say the same things.

/v/ - Video Games » Thread #480316709

arch.b4k.co arch.b4k.co

Ridley327 said:
I guess working on DQ rubbed off on him for all the wrong reasons.
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He was hoping the success in Japan would easily repeat overseas. Never mind that it took a good year for the YW series to take off the way it did (the first game wasn't a big seller, it took the anime to help it launch into the big sales it got for YW2).

Granted, the marketing for YW1 didn't help. Dumb commercials with more focus on gross-out instead of showing the cool or cute Yo-kai like Jibanyan and Venoct. This was during the Wii U era where the marketing team at Nintendo were the fucking worst.
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

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DanarchyReigns said:
Granted, the marketing for YW1 didn't help. Dumb commercials with more focus on gross-out instead of showing the cool or cute Yo-kai like Jibanyan and Venoct. This was during the Wii U era where the marketing team at Nintendo were the fucking worst.
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Emphasis on that kind of dumb humor also became bigger even in the anime later on, so it was the overall direction of the line they wanted at the time, not just a localization issue.
 
Ahuitzotl

Ahuitzotl

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Jun 11, 2020
432
How can the upper-management be this bad? that they constantly fuck up, to the point that it looks like they sabotaged their own business. I just a want good Inazuma game which actually will make it over to the west.
 
Forkball

Forkball

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Oct 25, 2017
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Level-5 not investing in their overseas branches was a foolish decision. Worldwide releases matter, something most Japanese developers figured out. By the time Yokai Watch 1 even got over here the franchise was waning in Japan. A 2+ year gap was ok in the 90s but not in the 2010s.

Their bloodlust for cross media franchises isn't sustainable. Yokai Watch was a fun kids show with a theme song that went viral. Yokai Medals were a cheap to make toy. Plus the games were actually goo. It was really lightning in a bottle. Their big follow up, Snack World, seemed like it was created by an algorithm and the keychain gimmick didn't have strong penetration. Then in 2016 they show off Megaton Musashi which looked like a toys to life game. Toys to life. In 2016. What was the plan for this game originally even? 3DS? In 2017/18? Obviously not Switch if it's taken them five years to crank that thing out.

The fact that Level 5 made a logo for their cross media business strategy tells you their priorities.
 
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