Today NetEase Games announced the launch of a new game development studio in Japan named PinCool.
The studio, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, will be led by CEO Ryutaro Ichimura. You may know him as the former producer of the Dragon Quest franchise. He left Square Enix at the end of March.
PinCool will focus on development of games for home consoles and plans to provide high-quality entertainment experiences for gamers around the world.
The company's motto is "Pin! With the power of imagination, the world is fun!" and its philosophy is focused on uniqueness, with the aim to entertain people all over the world by integrating new ideas coming from the developers' imagination into its projects.
The plan is to create large-scale games while also launching simpler games with shorter development cycles in parallel to maintain a close connection with the userbase.
The press release also includes a message from NetEase Games president of Global Investments and Partnerships, who mentions that as a company passionate about creating highly immersive games, NetEase understands the huge role Ichimura-san has played in the Dragon Quest series. Considering his experience in shaping the RPG genre and his track record of inspiring many game developers around the world, the company looks forward to what he'll achieve with PinCool. Togeter with the new studio, NetEase is committed to creating an environment where it can explore innovative ideas and create unforgettable gaming experiences for the fans.
NetEase has certainly been shopping as of late, acquiring Quantic Dream, Grasshopper Manufacture, and more studios. In similar operations to the one announced today, the company has also hired Toshihiro Nagoshi of Yakuza/Like a Dragon fame and legendary Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi placing them at the head of their own studios Nagoshi Studio and GPTRACK50 Studio.
That being said, while NetEase appears to be serious about building a development force to be reckoned with, we still have to see tangible results of this buildup.
