Wiki: Marvelous (company)

previously known as Marvelous AQL, stylized as MARVELOUS! is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, and anime producer. The company was founded in 1997 but formed in its current state in October 2011 by the merger of the original Marvelous Entertainment with AQ Interactive, and Liveware. Kabushiki kaisha]] Māberasu Entāteimento ( MMV) produced animation, music, and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the Story of Seasons series.

History

MMV

Locally, MMV was involved in a number of forms of entertainment, including the production of anime and music by their two subsidiaries Artland and Delfi Sound respectively. Artland is an animation studio that produced a number of popular manga and anime including the award-winning Mushishi and the hit shōnen Katekyō Hitman Reborn!, and Delfi Sound is a recording studio that was involved in the production of a number of albums, audio theatre, and soundtracks since its establishment in 2005. MMV also produced a number of live television series, movies, and musical theatre productions, like the highly popular Prince of Tennis musical, Tenimyu.

Merge with AQ Interactive

In 2011, AQ Interactive merged with Marvelous Entertainment (along with mobile gaming company Liveware). The combined company became Marvelous AQL Inc., and AQ was absorbed into the Marvelous business operations. The merge was effective on May 10, 2011. 商号変更及び定款一部変更に関するお知らせ The plan would make Marvelous Entertainment Inc. the sole surviving entity after the merger, with Marvelous Entertainment Inc. renamed to Marvelous AQL Inc. on merger day. 株式会社マーベラスエンターテイメント、株式会社AQインタラクティブ及び株式会社ライブウェアの合併契約締結に関するお知らせマーベラスエンターテイメントとAQインタラクティブ、ライブウェアが合併　新会社「マーベラスAQL」に

On December 22, 2011, MarvelousAQL Inc. announced the establishment of the overseas business department, with investment from Checkpoint Studios Inc., replacing the global strategy room, which dissolved on January 1, 2012. 海外事業部設立のお知らせ

On October 25, 2012, MarvelousAQL Inc. announced its stock listing on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, effective on November 1, 2012. 東京証券取引所市場第一部銘柄指定承認に関するお知らせ

On January 1, 2013, MarvelousAQL Inc. established the amusement business division. The company's digital contents business division and amusement contents development division were moved into amusement business division, and was renamed as amusement development division. アミューズメント事業部設立のお知らせ

On February 1, 2013, MarvelousAQL Inc. established the digital contents business division. 組織変更のお知らせ

On July 1, 2014, MarvelousAQL Inc. was renamed as Marvelous Inc.

On March 13, 2015, it was announced that Marvelous would acquire mobile gaming company G-Mode. This includes Data East IPs that G-Mode bought in 2004.

Tencent acquired a 20% stake of Marvelous via new shares, approximately on May 26, 2020.

On May 25, 2023, the company livestreamed its first ever digital showcase which featured the syn Sophia-developed Fashion Dreamer and several newly announced upcoming games including a couple of new IPs tentatively titled PROJECT MAGIA and PROJECT LIFE is RPG, several new entries in the flagship Story of Seasons and Rune Factory series, and , a sequel to the original Daemon X Machina.

On August 22, 2024, Established Marvelous APAC Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Subsidiaries

Development

Current

Hakama Inc.	Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan	2018	A studio led by Story of Seasons and Rune Factory producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto.
Honey Parade Games	Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan	2017	Styled as "Honey∞Parade Games", they were formed by Marvelous as an internal studio for the Senran Kagura franchise. Kenichiro Takaki leads the studio.
Marvelous First Studio	Japan	2017	An internal development studio that has worked on titles such as Fate/Extella Link, God Eater 3, and Daemon X Machina. It is made up of former employees of Cavia, Artoon, and Feelplus which were all folded by AQ Interactive in 2010.

Former

Entersphere Inc.

Shinagawa, Tokyo

May 2008

December 2012

May 2015

Marvelous AQL Inc. announced the acquisition of the studio on December 21, 2012 株式会社エンタースフィアの株式取得（子会社化）に関するお知らせ with the purchase being completed on January 11, 2013. Marvelous sold off all their shares in the studio in 2015. They were renamed Techno Maria in October 2017 and filed for bankruptcy on January 9, 2018.

Publication and Distribution

Current

Marvelous Europe Limited	London, United Kingdom (previously Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom)	April 2012	N/A	Publishing and distribution arm for Marvelous' titles in Europe. They were originally formed as MAQL Europe Limited 海外子会社設立に関するお知らせ and were renamed in June 2014.
Xseed Games	Torrance, California, United States	2004	October 2011	Publishing and distribution arm for Marvelous' titles in North America who as of August 2024 publish under the Marvelous (in-house titles) and Xseed Games (third-party titles) banners. They were a carryover from AQ Interactive during the merger. Initially known as Xseed JKS, Inc., the company was renamed Marvelous USA Inc. on May 7, 2013. 米国子会社の社名変更のお知らせ after purchasing the Index Digital Media, Inc.'s online business unit, which had transferred to Xseed JKS, Inc. on March 31. 当社子会社によるIndex Digital Media, Inc.（米国）のオンラインゲーム事業取得に関するお知らせ

Former

Artland Co, Ltd.	Musashino, Tokyo, Japan	September 1978	April 2006	April 2015	A Japanese animation studio that was acquired by Marvelous Entertainment Inc. in April 2006 as Artland LLC, and renamed shortly after the purchase. The animation studio portion of the company was split off independently in December 2010 and the rest of the company was absorbed by Marvelous in April 2015.
LINKTHINK Inc.	Japan	July 2006	October 2011	April 2017	The company was previously acquired by AQ Interactive in April 2009. Marvelous absorbed the company in April 2017.

Animation Studio Artland (株式会社アニメーションスタジオ・アートランド) is an animation studio established via dividing Artland, Inc. On 15 November 2010, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the separating Artland, Inc.'s animation production into Animation Studio Artland, Inc. as a fully owned subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc., effective on December 1, 2010.

Marvelous Online (マーベラス・オンライン) is an online store for Marvelous Entertainment Inc. products. Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the establishment of Marvelous Online on May 2, 2009.

Runtime, Inc. (有限会社ランタイム) was a software development, video game production, CG production company, established on July 18, 2001. On March 17, 2006, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced Runtime, Inc. would become a subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc., effective on April 3, 2006. On January 28, 2008, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced Runtime, Inc. would be merged into its parent company, Marvelous Entertainment Inc., effective on April 1, 2008.

Marvelous Music Publishing, Inc. (株式会社マーベラス音楽出版) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc., established from its parent's former copyright and publishing businesses. On July 1, 2001, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the establishment of Marvelous Music Publishing, Inc. On January 23, 2007, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced Marvelous Music Publishing, Inc. would be merged into its parent company, Marvelous Entertainment Inc., effective on April 1, 2007.

Marvelous Liveware Inc. (株式会社マーベラスライブウェア) was a mobile phone Internet contents development subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc. On April 27, 2004, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the establishment of the subsidiary Marvelous Liveware Inc., effective on June 1, 2004. On March 31, 2005, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the sales of Marvelous Liveware to Interspire, inc.

Marvelous Interactive Inc. (株式会社マーベラスインタラクティブ) was a developer and publisher of video games, established on August 3, 1970 as Pack-In-Video and later renamed Victor Interactive Software after Victor Entertainment merged with Pack-In-Video on October 1, 1996. On March 24, 2003, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced had acquired 55% stake of Victor Interactive Software, and would rename Victor Interactive Software to Marvelous Interactive Inc., effective on March 31, 2003. In the press release, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. listed the then upcoming Marvelous Interactive Inc. was established on October 1, 1996. Marvelous Interactive Company Outline On September 10, 2003, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced Marvelous Interactive Inc. would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc. When Marvelous Entertainment Inc. completed its acquisition of Victor Interactive Software on March 31, 2003, it was renamed Marvelous Interactive. With this acquisition MMV obtained all the rights to the popular Story of Seasons series and other Victor Interactive Software series. On March 20, 2007, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced Marvelous Interactive Inc. would be merged into its parent company, Marvelous Entertainment Inc., effective on June 30, 2007.

Mad (株式会社マッド) was an amusement facility operator. On March 20, 2007, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced a restructuring plan that would transfer amusement business to Atlus, by moving it to Mad (株式会社マッド) as a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment Inc., which would be established on June 1, 2007; the remaining businesses would be operated under Marvelous Entertainment Inc. The transfer also included sale of The Third Planet (株式会社ザ・サードプラネット) amusement operations, effective on July 1, 2007. At Atlus, the company announced merging Mad into Atlus effective on September 1, 2007, with merger registered on September 3, 2007.

Delfi Sound Inc. (株式会社デルファイサウンド) It is a recording studio, album production, and music label company. The company was established on April 1, 2005 as Marvelous Studio Inc. (株式会社マーベラススタジオ). On March 22, 2005, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the establishment of the subsidiary Marvelous Studio Inc., effective on April 1, 2005. On January 22, 2010, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced transferring 100% of its Delfi Sound Inc. shares to Amuse Capital Inc. (株式会社アミューズキャピタル), effective on January 29, 2010.

Rising Star Games was a video game publisher and distributor within Europe and all other PAL territories. On December 24, 2004, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced the establishment of a London-based joint venture company called Rising Star Games Limited with Bergsala. Marvelous Entertainment Inc. would own 51% shares of the company, while Bergsala AB own the remaining 49%. The company would begin operation in 2004–12. MMV decided to gain a foothold on the European market first because most Japanese publishers have not really focused on it. About a year later, Rising Star Games and Atari teamed up to start releasing games for the Nintendo DS and PSP and has since experienced great success in Europe. As of March 31, 2008, Harvest Moon DS managed to sell over 300,000 copies and ship over 500,000 copies across the continent. Rising Star Games has also released over 30 games in Europe, including No More Heroes and a ported version of for the Wii. On January 22, 2010, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced transferring all of its remaining 51% of Rising Star Games Limited stakes to Intergrow Inc. (株式会社インターグロー), effective on January 29, 2010.

Marvelous Entertainment USA, Inc. (MMV USA): on May 9, 2008, MMV announced that it would be partnering up with Xseed Games to co-publish games in North America. On May 16, 2005, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced it had acquired the shares of an American company AQ Interactive and it would be renamed as Marvelous Entertainment USA as 100% subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment effective in May 2005. Gamasutra: Harvest Man Yasuhiro Wada On May 9, 2008, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. and Xseed Games announced they had entered a co-publishing partnership. The North American video game sales would begin in November 2008. Gamasutra Q&A: Marvelous's Yasuhiro Wada On May 31, 2011, Marvelous Entertainment Inc. announced transferring 100% of its Marvelous Entertainment USA, Inc. shares to Rising Star Games Limited, effective on June 30, 2011.

Video games

Developed

Note: The below tables are limited to games developed or published by Marvelous in Japan after the merger with AQ Interactive Marvelous (AQL); May 2011; see here for games released prior to this date.

+Story of Seasons and related crossovers !Name !Platform !Release Date !Other Information
	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: February 23, 2012 North America: October 19, 2012 Europe: September 20, 2013 Australasia: November 14, 2013 Published by Natsume Inc. in North America; final Story of Seasons game to be localized and published in North America by Natsume.
Story of Seasons		Japan: February 27, 2014 North America: March 31, 2015 Europe: December 31, 2015 Australasia: January 9, 2016 \| rowspan="2" Published by Nintendo in Europe.
		Japan: June 23, 2016 North America: February 28, 2017 Europe: October 13, 2017 Australasia: October 14, 2017
	Nintendo Switch	Japan: October 17, 2019 PAL region: July 10, 2020 North America: July 14, 2020 \| rowspan="3" Remake of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town; first game in the main series playable on PC.
	Microsoft Windows	WW: July 10, 2020
	Xbox One PlayStation 4 Xbox One & Playstation 4 PAL region: October 15, 2021 North America: October 26, 2021 Japan Xbox One: October 27, 2021 Japan PlayStation 4: November 25, 2021
	Nintendo Switch	Japan: February 25, 2021 North America: March 23, 2021 PAL region: March 26, 2021
	Microsoft Windows	WW: September 15, 2021
	PlayStation 4	Japan: July 28, 2022 North America: July 26, 2022 PAL region: July 29, 2022
	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S Microsoft Windows WW: June 27, 2023	Remake of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life and Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life.
	Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch 2 Microsoft Windows WW: August 27, 2025	Remake of Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar.
Doraemon Story of Seasons	Nintendo Switch Microsoft Windows	Japan: June 13, 2019 WW: October 11, 2019 \| rowspan="3" Co-developed by Brownies and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Doraemon Story of Seasons	PlayStation 4	Japan: July 30, 2020 WW: September 4, 2020
	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 5 Microsoft Windows WW: November 2, 2022

+Rune Factory !Name !Platform !Release Date !Other Information
Rune Factory 4	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: July 19, 2012 North America: October 1, 2013 PAL region: December 11, 2014 Developed by Neverland
Rune Factory 4 Special	Nintendo Switch	Japan: July 25, 2019 North America: February 25, 2020 PAL region: February 28, 2020 \| rowspan="2" Remaster of Rune Factory 4.
Rune Factory 4 Special	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One WW: December 7, 2021
Rune Factory 5	Nintendo Switch	Japan: May 20, 2021 North America: March 22, 2022 Europe: March 25, 2022
Rune Factory 5	Microsoft Windows	WW: July 13, 2022
Rune Factory 3 Special	Nintendo Switch	Japan: March 2, 2023 WW: September 5, 2023 \| rowspan="2" Remaster of Rune Factory 3.
Rune Factory 3 Special	Microsoft Windows	WW: September 5, 2023
	Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch 2 Microsoft Windows WW: June 5, 2025

+Monster Hunter Stories (turn-based RPG spin-off series of Monster Hunter; co-developed and published by Capcom) !Name !Platform !Release Date !Other Information
Monster Hunter Stories	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: October 8, 2016 North America & Europe: September 8, 2017 Australasia: September 9, 2017
	iOS Android	Japan: December 4, 2017 WW: September 25, 2018
	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Microsoft Windows WW: June 14, 2024	Remastered version.
	Nintendo Switch Microsoft Windows WW: July 9, 2021
	PlayStation 4	WW: June 14, 2024
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection	Nintendo Switch 2 PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S Microsoft Windows WW: 2026	First game in the Stories spin-off series playable on Xbox Series X/S and first game in the spin-off series not playable on the originalNintendo Switch.

+Other Games			Japan: October 2, 2014 North America: June 2, 2015 PAL region: June 4, 2015
Return to PopoloCrois		Japan: June 18, 2015 PAL region: February 18, 2016 North America: March 1, 2016 Co-developed with epics.
Japan: Itadaki Street Wii (いただきストリートWii) North America: Fortune Street Europe: Boom Street	Wii	Japan: December 1, 2011 North America: December 5, 2011 Europe: December 23, 2011 Australasia: January 5, 2012 Revealed by Nintendo at E3 2011. It was the first game in the Itadaki Street series to be published outside Japan. The game includes characters from the Dragon Quest series and the Mario series. Co-developed by and published in Japan by Square Enix and Nintendo outside of Japan.
	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: September 22, 2011
Senran Kagura Burst	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: August 30, 2012 North America: November 14, 2013 PAL region: February 27, 2014
	PlayStation 4	Japan: February 22, 2018 PAL region: January 18, 2019 North America: January 22, 2019 \| rowspan="2" Developed by Tamsoft.
	Microsoft Windows	WW: January 22, 2019
	Nintendo 3DS	Japan: August 7, 2014 WW: August 2015
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games	Wii U	Europe: November 8, 2013 Australasia: November 9, 2013 North America: November 15, 2013 Japan: December 5, 2013 Co-developed with Sega, published by Nintendo.
Daemon X Machina	Nintendo Switch	WW: September 13, 2019	Switch version published by Nintendo outside of Japan.
Daemon X Machina	Microsoft Windows	WW: February 13, 2020
	PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita	Japan: November 10, 2016 North America: January 17, 2017 Europe: January 20, 2017
	Nintendo Switch	Japan: July 20, 2017 PAL region: July 21, 2017 North America: July 25, 2017
	Microsoft Windows	WW: July 25, 2017
	Android iOS Japan: July 22, 2020
	PlayStation 4	Japan: March 16, 2017 WW: September 26, 2017 \| rowspan="2" Developed by Tamsoft.
	Microsoft Windows	WW: March 7, 2018
God Eater 3	PlayStation 4	Japan: December 13, 2018 WW: February 8, 2019 \| rowspan="3" Co-developed with and published by Bandai Namco Studios.
	Microsoft Windows	WW: February 8, 2019
	Nintendo Switch	Japan: July 11, 2019 WW: July 12, 2019
Farmagia	Nintendo Switch Microsoft Windows PlayStation 5 WW: November 1, 2024
No More Heroes (Engine Software; originally developed by Grasshopper Manufacture) (Engine Software; originally developed by Grasshopper Manufacture) No More Heroes III (developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, only published in Japan) Fashion Dreamer (developed by Syn Sophia) PlayStation 3 (developed by Examu and co-publish with Nitroplus) PlayStation Portable English Detective Mysteria Fate/Extra Fate/Extra CCC Valhalla Knights Valhalla Knights 2 PlayStation Vita Browser Sangokushi Next (PlayStation Network) IA/VT Colorful New Little King's Story (developed / published by Konami) Senran Kagura Bon Appétit! Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus Soul Sacrifice (co-developed / published by Sony Computer Entertainment) Soul Sacrifice Delta (co-developed / published by Sony Computer Entertainment) Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (published by Sega) Uppers Valhalla Knights 3 (developed by K2 LLC) Valhalla Knights 3 Gold (developed by Opus) Net High PlayStation 4 (developed by Examu and co-published with Nitroplus) Kandagawa Jet Girls (developed by Honey∞Parade Games, a subsidiary of Marvelous) Microsoft Windows Skullgirls (formerly) (developed by Opus) Bullet Witch No More Heroes (Engine Software; originally developed by Grasshopper Manufacture) (Engine Software; originally developed by Grasshopper Manufacture)