WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 OK, let's unpack this. We often talk about companies 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:04.519 that, you know, try to do one thing perfectly. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.060 The artisans. Right. The boutique studios. Exactly. 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:10.900 The studios that spend like seven years polishing 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:12.800 the reflection in a single puddle in a game. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.599 But what happens when a company decides to be, 00:00:15.619 --> 00:00:19.940 well, a machine, a literal factory of ideas? 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.559 It is a really interesting distinction to make. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:26.050 And today we're looking at a company that. put 00:00:26.050 --> 00:00:28.449 that entire ambition right there in their name 00:00:28.449 --> 00:00:31.269 idea factory idea factory holdings go ltd yeah 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:33.509 and looking at the stack of sources we have today 00:00:33.509 --> 00:00:35.390 which is i mean it's largely built around this 00:00:35.390 --> 00:00:37.390 really comprehensive breakdown of their history 00:00:37.390 --> 00:00:40.149 their subsidiaries and this absolutely massive 00:00:40.149 --> 00:00:43.130 almost overwhelming list of games they've released, 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:45.450 it feels like we're looking at a survivor. A 00:00:45.450 --> 00:00:47.409 survivor is definitely the right word. They were 00:00:47.409 --> 00:00:50.310 founded in 1994 in the video game industry. Just 00:00:50.310 --> 00:00:52.350 surviving for over 30 years is, I mean, that's 00:00:52.350 --> 00:00:55.170 incredibly rare. It's an eternity. It is. But 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:57.229 surviving by constant, and I mean constantly, 00:00:57.310 --> 00:00:59.969 shifting your entire identity, that's something 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:02.689 else entirely. It's even rarer. It's wild. We're 00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:06.150 going to see them go from these really gritty, 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:09.349 hardcore strategy games for the PlayStation 1. 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:12.670 you know, the kinds of games that basically required 00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:15.469 a spreadsheet to understand, to becoming the 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:17.870 absolute dominant force in romance games for 00:01:17.870 --> 00:01:21.329 women, to then making games about like anime 00:01:21.329 --> 00:01:23.530 consoles fighting each other. It's a journey 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:25.790 that on paper just doesn't make any sense. But 00:01:25.790 --> 00:01:28.269 it creates this fascinating narrative arc. And 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:30.810 the mission for this deep dive is to really try 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:34.250 and understand that evolution. How does a company 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:37.870 that was founded by refugees from a studio like 00:01:37.870 --> 00:01:41.719 Data East. How do they evolve into what Idea 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:43.680 Factory is today? Because they aren't just a 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:45.540 game developer. They're, like you said, a case 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:48.040 study in agility. And for you listening, even 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:49.459 if you've never played a single one of their 00:01:49.459 --> 00:01:51.219 games, and let's be honest, some of them are 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:53.959 incredibly, incredibly niche, this is a business 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.680 story at its core. It's about finding a niche, 00:01:56.819 --> 00:01:58.859 exploiting it until the wheels fall off, and 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:00.819 then finding a completely different niche just 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:03.879 to keep the lights on. It's about survival. Precisely. 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.219 It's all about that factory metaphor. They don't 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:08.199 just have ideas. They seem to industrialize them. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.599 They iterate. They reuse assets when they can. 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:13.580 They build these entire ecosystems out of seemingly 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:15.960 nothing. So let's start at the very beginning. 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:20.199 The birth of the factory. October 26, 1994. Right. 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:24.159 Headquarters in Kibashi, Chushu, Tokyo. I mean, 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:26.599 it sounds like a pretty humble beginning. It 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:28.879 does. The source material mentions the key figures 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.539 leading the charge today. Shingo Kawana as chairman 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:34.780 and Yoshitori Sato as president. But the origin 00:02:34.780 --> 00:02:38.439 story, it really hinges on where these people 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:40.879 came from. The source notes the company was founded 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.909 by former employees of Data East. And that detail 00:02:43.909 --> 00:02:45.930 is crucial. You really can't understand the DNA 00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:47.949 of Idea Factory without looking at Data East. 00:02:48.069 --> 00:02:49.689 For those who might not know, Data East was a 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:52.389 major, major player in the arcade era. Right. 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:55.009 They made very distinct, often quirky, sometimes 00:02:55.009 --> 00:02:58.389 just plain weird action games. Burger Time. Bad 00:02:58.389 --> 00:03:01.930 dudes. Karnoff. Bad dudes. No way. Are you a 00:03:01.930 --> 00:03:03.990 bad enough dude to save the president? That's 00:03:03.990 --> 00:03:06.639 the same Data East. The very same. They had this 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.240 reputation for games that were, you know, maybe 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:11.539 a little rough around the edges, but they had 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:14.340 immense personality. They were memorable. They 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:16.939 really were. But by the mid -90s, the whole industry 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:20.280 was changing so rapidly. The arcade scene was 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:24.319 beginning its slow, painful decline. The home 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.819 console market, on the other hand, was just exploding. 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:30.620 The PlayStation 1 was about to launch in Japan 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:33.539 in December of 94. So you have this group of 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:36.449 developers. And they're leaving an established 00:03:36.449 --> 00:03:40.610 giant like Data East right on the cusp of the 00:03:40.610 --> 00:03:43.729 3D revolution. That feels like a massive gamble. 00:03:43.870 --> 00:03:45.509 That's huge. It's like they're leaving a sinking 00:03:45.509 --> 00:03:47.669 ship, maybe, but they're jumping onto a tiny 00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:49.669 raft in the middle of a hurricane. Massive gamble, 00:03:49.810 --> 00:03:51.969 yeah. But it also suggests they wanted creative 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:53.770 control, right? When you look at Data East's 00:03:53.770 --> 00:03:55.729 output, it was very arcade -centric. It was all 00:03:55.729 --> 00:03:57.370 about quick thrill. Quarter munchers. Exactly, 00:03:57.509 --> 00:03:59.909 quarter munchers. Idea Factory, from the very, 00:03:59.969 --> 00:04:02.370 very start, seemed to pivot towards something 00:04:02.370 --> 00:04:05.439 deeper. Something with more staying power. They 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:07.080 wanted to make games you could really get lost 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.939 in for hours. Console gaming, role -playing games, 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.099 strategy. And they didn't just set up a single 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.300 studio and call it a day. Looking at the corporate 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.100 structure that's provided in the source, Idea 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:21.040 Factory isn't just one room where people are 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.709 making games. It's a holding company. Yes, and 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.410 that structure is absolutely key to their survival. 00:04:27.629 --> 00:04:30.350 It's a very mature business approach for what 00:04:30.350 --> 00:04:34.149 is, at its heart, a creative field. They've diversified 00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:36.990 their risk by creating these specialized subsidiaries. 00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:39.009 Okay, so walk me through them. Well, you have 00:04:39.009 --> 00:04:40.970 Compile Heart, which is often the one associated 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:43.610 with their more traditional RPGs, especially 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:46.589 the Neptunia series. You have Design Factory, 00:04:46.970 --> 00:04:48.889 which is a bit more behind the scenes. And then 00:04:48.889 --> 00:04:51.209 perhaps most significantly, you have Automate. 00:04:51.470 --> 00:04:53.449 Right. Automate. We are going to spend a lot 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:55.910 of time on automates later because that list 00:04:55.910 --> 00:04:58.670 of games in the source is just staggering. But 00:04:58.670 --> 00:05:00.750 that's their female oriented branch, correct? 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:03.449 That's the one. It is the engine that drove their 00:05:03.449 --> 00:05:06.449 growth for probably an entire decade. And then 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:08.649 more recently, you have Idea Factory International, 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:11.370 which is their bridge to the West. Based in California. 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:14.050 Right. And a relatively new addition from 2022 00:05:14.050 --> 00:05:16.639 called Altergear. It's like an octopus. It's 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.459 got all these tentacles in every specific nerd 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:21.639 niche you can imagine. If one tentacle gets cut 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:23.759 off, the others just keep feeding the beast. 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:26.339 That is a very fair analogy. Instead of trying 00:05:26.339 --> 00:05:28.579 to make one single game that appeals to absolutely 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:30.620 everyone, you know, the blockbuster strategy, 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.720 they created these divisions to make very specific 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:37.379 games for very specific groups of people. So 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:40.500 let's rewind to the mid -90s. They've just left 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:43.339 Data East. They've got their office in Tokyo. 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:45.339 The PlayStation is about to change everything. 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:47.420 What is the first thing that comes off the assembly 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:49.620 line? Well, looking at the game's published list 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:51.860 in our source, the very first title that appears 00:05:51.860 --> 00:05:55.180 is Spectral Tower in 1996 for the PlayStation. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.839 Spectral Tower. OK, that sounds ominous. It definitely 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:00.399 doesn't sound like a game where you jump on turtles. 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:03.220 No, it sets the tone perfectly for their early 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:06.220 years. It was a dungeon crawler. First person. 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.079 Very difficult, very dense. And then in 1997, 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.040 you get Spectral Force. And this kicks off what 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.740 I'm calling the spectral and chaos era. I'm just 00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:17.860 looking at this list. And the sheer volume of 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:20.339 titles with the word spectral or chaos in them 00:06:20.339 --> 00:06:22.759 is, I mean, it's kind of hilarious. It is relentless. 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.180 Between 1996 and roughly 2005, they were building 00:06:26.180 --> 00:06:30.060 a brand. You have Spectral Force 2, Ayanaru Kiseki 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:33.839 in 1998. You have Spectral Force. Lovely Wickedness 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.899 in 1999. OK. Lovely Wickedness is a great subtitle, 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:38.699 by the way. It is. It sounds like a goth band 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.279 from the late 90s or something. It's very evocative 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.339 of that era. And then on the other side of the 00:06:43.339 --> 00:06:45.339 coin, you have the Chaos branding. Generation 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:48.839 of Chaos in 2001. Kingdom of Chaos. Field of 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:51.180 Chaos. It just keeps going. It feels like they 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:53.300 found a fantasy setting they really liked and 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:55.500 just decided to live there for a decade. But 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:57.480 let's talk about the gameplay for a second. Because 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.959 looking at screenshots of something like Spectral 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:03.029 Force or Generation of Chaos. This isn't Final 00:07:03.029 --> 00:07:05.290 Fantasy. You aren't just, you know, walking around 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:07.529 a world map fighting goblins in random battles. 00:07:07.790 --> 00:07:11.430 No, not at all. These are strategy RPGs or SRPGs. 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:14.709 Grand strategy, even. Think of it as a mix of 00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:17.399 a game like Risk. maybe a bit of civilization, 00:07:17.699 --> 00:07:20.939 and then a classic Japanese RPG. Okay. You choose 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:23.199 a nation from like dozens of options. You have 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.439 generals, each with their own stats and special 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.300 moves. You have to manage your borders, fortify 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.860 your castles, recruit troops, and even engage 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:33.360 in diplomacy with the other kingdoms. And then 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.660 when a battle actually happens, it shifts to 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:38.160 a tactical map. So it's basically a spreadsheet 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.399 with dragons. In the best possible way, yes. 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.660 It appeals to a very, very specific type of brain. 00:07:43.779 --> 00:07:46.319 The type of player who loves maximizing stats 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.680 and organizing armies and looking at maps. And 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:50.300 they just kept pumping these out. The market 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:53.199 was there for it, clearly. They did. And in gaming 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.759 circles, this whole interconnected series is 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.740 often referred to as the Neverland universe. 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:00.680 The source material actually lists games like 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:04.300 Neverland Senki Zero and later on Neverland Card 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:06.430 Battles. Oh, I see that. Neverland Card... battles 00:08:06.430 --> 00:08:09.170 on the PSP much later on. So all these spectral 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:11.829 and chaos games, they're all connected. They 00:08:11.829 --> 00:08:13.930 take place in the same world. For the most part, 00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:16.509 yes. They were building this huge interconnected 00:08:16.509 --> 00:08:19.889 world with a long history. And this is really 00:08:19.889 --> 00:08:22.329 interesting from a business perspective. If you 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:25.310 are a small studio in the 90s, you don't have 00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:27.269 the budget for Final Fantasy level graphics. 00:08:27.370 --> 00:08:29.910 You can't compete on spectacle. Yeah. So how 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:32.529 do you hook players and keep them coming back? 00:08:32.649 --> 00:08:34.769 I don't know how. You hook them with lore, you 00:08:34.769 --> 00:08:37.269 hook them with continuity. If you played Spectral 00:08:37.269 --> 00:08:39.490 Force, you might see a character named Judu. 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:42.740 Then three years later in Generation of Chaos, 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:45.980 Jadu is back, but maybe now he's an older king 00:08:45.980 --> 00:08:48.340 or a legendary villain. Ah, I see. If you've 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:50.580 played the previous games, you feel rewarded. 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.679 You get the reference. You feel like you're part 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:55.360 of a secret club that understands the deep history 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.759 of this world. That's really smart. It creates 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:59.700 a sticky ecosystem. You're not just buying a 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:01.519 game, you're buying another piece of the puzzle. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.539 It's basically the Marvel Cinematic Universe 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:06.539 model, but built on a shoestring budget in 1998. 00:09:07.149 --> 00:09:08.809 That's the perfect way to put it. And look at 00:09:08.809 --> 00:09:11.250 the platform loyalty here during this era. The 00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:13.549 list is just dominated by the original PlayStation 00:09:13.549 --> 00:09:17.389 and then seamlessly the PlayStation 2. They found 00:09:17.389 --> 00:09:20.250 where that hardcore RPG audience was living and 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:22.830 they just set up shop and refused to leave. I 00:09:22.830 --> 00:09:24.990 did notice an odd one in the list, though. From 00:09:24.990 --> 00:09:29.809 1998. Spectral Force. Era Corinne. The system 00:09:29.809 --> 00:09:32.470 listed is mobile phone. That stood out to me 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:34.769 as well. 1998 is incredibly early for mobile 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.009 gaming, especially in Japan. This was well before 00:09:37.009 --> 00:09:38.850 smartphones. This would have been on those early 00:09:38.850 --> 00:09:42.909 iMode -style distinct Japanese feature phones. 00:09:43.210 --> 00:09:46.289 Wow. So even while they were deep in this console 00:09:46.289 --> 00:09:49.250 strategy RPG grind, they were willing to experiment. 00:09:49.370 --> 00:09:52.070 They were dipping a toe into mobile way, way 00:09:52.070 --> 00:09:54.700 before it's cool. It speaks to that factory mindset 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:56.919 again. Try everything. If the brand is strong, 00:09:57.059 --> 00:09:59.360 see if it works on a tiny phone screen. They 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:01.139 were likely looking at the Japanese commuter 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:02.940 culture and thinking, if we can get them to play 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:04.759 our game for five minutes on the train to work, 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.139 that's a win. It's an interesting little footnote 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.019 in their history. So, OK, we have this first 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:11.600 decade. It's gritty. It's strategy heavy. It's 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.379 all demons and knights and kingdoms at war. And 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:18.700 then. Something shifts. A seismic shift, really. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.399 A complete change in direction. We get to section 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.799 three of our outline, the automate revolution. 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.259 And this is where things get really interesting 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:29.879 for me. This is arguably the single most important 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:32.559 pivot in the company's entire history. I'm not 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:34.059 sure we would even be talking about them today 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:36.039 if they hadn't done this. For those listening 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:38.039 who might not know, let's define this clearly. 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:41.019 What is automate? Automate is the brand name 00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:43.259 for their division that produces automagames. 00:10:44.029 --> 00:10:47.610 Otome literally translates to maiden. In gaming 00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:49.830 terms, these are story -driven games, usually 00:10:49.830 --> 00:10:52.509 visual novels, aimed specifically at a female 00:10:52.509 --> 00:10:55.070 audience. The gameplay goal is usually to pursue 00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:57.830 a relationship and romance one of several male 00:10:57.830 --> 00:10:59.789 characters. So we go from Generation of Chaos, 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:01.850 which sounds like a heavy metal album cover, 00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:05.090 and involves managing tax rates for Goblin Army 00:11:05.090 --> 00:11:07.929 to romance games for women. That is a hard left 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:10.529 turn. It is. But if you look at the automate 00:11:10.529 --> 00:11:13.629 games sub list in our source, you see that they 00:11:13.629 --> 00:11:15.429 didn't just dabble in this. They didn't just 00:11:15.429 --> 00:11:17.289 release one game to see what would happen. They 00:11:17.289 --> 00:11:20.429 absolutely flooded the market. The list is huge. 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:22.549 I'm scrolling through it right now and it just 00:11:22.549 --> 00:11:26.320 keeps going. Why did they do this? Was the strategy 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.379 market just dying out? It was a few things. By 00:11:29.379 --> 00:11:31.740 the mid -2000s, yeah, the spectral formula was 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:34.259 getting a little stale. Development costs on 00:11:34.259 --> 00:11:36.480 the next generation of consoles, the PS3, were 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.299 skyrocketing. But more importantly, Idea Factory 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:42.700 identified a massively underserved market. Women. 00:11:43.329 --> 00:11:46.309 Exactly. In the mid -2000s, video games were 00:11:46.309 --> 00:11:48.730 still largely marketed almost exclusively toward 00:11:48.730 --> 00:11:51.889 men and boys. There were very, very few high 00:11:51.889 --> 00:11:54.549 -quality narrative -rich games specifically for 00:11:54.549 --> 00:11:57.009 women on consoles. Idea Factory looked at that 00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.450 huge void and said, we can fill that. It's the 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:01.289 classic blue ocean strategy, right? Everyone 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:03.250 else is fighting over the teenage boys in this 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:05.590 bloody red ocean of competition. Let's go over 00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:07.610 here where there is no one. That's it, exactly. 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:10.629 And because these were visual novels, they didn't 00:12:10.629 --> 00:12:13.710 require complex 3D physics. engines or massive 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:16.929 open worlds. They relied on beautiful 2D art, 00:12:17.049 --> 00:12:19.509 excellent voice acting, and most importantly, 00:12:19.629 --> 00:12:22.049 good writing. It was incredibly cost effective 00:12:22.049 --> 00:12:24.009 to produce them. So they could make a lot of 00:12:24.009 --> 00:12:26.210 them for cheap. And test the waters with different 00:12:26.210 --> 00:12:28.950 themes and genres within that one umbrella. Let's 00:12:28.950 --> 00:12:30.470 look at some of the heavy hitters here, because 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:32.210 some of these names are absolutely legendary 00:12:32.210 --> 00:12:34.330 in that community. The biggest one, without a 00:12:34.330 --> 00:12:37.169 doubt, has to be Hakuuki. It first appears on 00:12:37.169 --> 00:12:40.929 the list as Hakuuki Shinsengumi Kitan in 2008. 00:12:41.629 --> 00:12:44.450 And the Shinsengumi part refers to that famous 00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:47.509 sort of samurai police force in 19th century 00:12:47.509 --> 00:12:49.669 Japan, right? Correct. It's a historical fantasy. 00:12:49.870 --> 00:12:52.230 You play as a young woman who gets entangled 00:12:52.230 --> 00:12:54.950 with these famous historical swordsmen, Hijikata 00:12:54.950 --> 00:12:57.470 Toshiso, Okita Tsuji, who are, of course, all 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:00.490 drawn to be incredibly attractive. But Idea Factory 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:02.809 added a twist. They added vampires. Wait, what? 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:05.590 Vampires? In 1860s Kyoto. Well, essentially, 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:08.450 in the game, they're called Furies or Rasetsu. 00:13:08.990 --> 00:13:11.230 The samurai drink this special medicine, the 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:13.330 water of life, to get stronger and heal their 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:15.590 wounds, but it has a side effect. It turns them 00:13:15.590 --> 00:13:18.509 into these bloodthirsty, white -haired berserkers, 00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:21.870 and it slowly drains their life force. So every 00:13:21.870 --> 00:13:24.509 romance is basically a tragedy waiting to happen. 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:26.429 You fall in love with a guy who's doomed. And 00:13:26.429 --> 00:13:29.049 that is the key. Atone games aren't always just 00:13:29.049 --> 00:13:31.289 about happily ever after. They are often about 00:13:31.289 --> 00:13:34.669 melodrama, sacrifice, and tragic romance. Hakugi 00:13:34.669 --> 00:13:38.210 hit that tone perfectly. It resonated so deeply. 00:13:38.409 --> 00:13:40.690 that it spawned multiple anime series, stage 00:13:40.690 --> 00:13:43.970 plays, movies. It became a huge media franchise. 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:47.169 Naturally. And looking at the list, Hakuuki isn't 00:13:47.169 --> 00:13:49.929 a one -and -done title. I see Hakuuki Susoroku, 00:13:50.129 --> 00:13:52.750 Hakuuki Ramiroku, Hakuuki Sweet School Life. 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:55.070 Wait a minute, Sweet School Life? Yes. This is 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:57.610 a common trope in anime and Japanese games. After 00:13:57.610 --> 00:13:59.690 you put the characters through a grueling, tragic, 00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:03.169 bloody war story, you release a non -canon spinoff 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:04.730 where they are all just students and teachers 00:14:04.730 --> 00:14:07.769 in a modern Japanese high school. That is whiplash. 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:10.980 From tragic samurai vampires to the school festival. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.200 It's pure fan service. It allows the fans who 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:15.860 fell in love with these characters to see them 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:18.120 happy and doing mundane things like planning 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.700 for the cultural festival. It shows the incredible 00:14:20.700 --> 00:14:23.740 power of the IP. Once the audience loved these 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:25.559 characters, they would follow them anywhere, 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:28.159 even to high school algebra class. That's amazing. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:29.799 There's another title that pops up a lot here 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:34.240 in the list. Amnesia. Yes, a huge one. Amnesia. 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:38.100 Later amnesia crowd, amnesia world, amnesia. 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:41.000 Memories. I love the title. It's so direct. It 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:43.039 implies mystery right off the bat. It does. And 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.559 the premise is exactly that. The protagonist 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.419 wakes up on August 1st with no memory of her 00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:51.720 life, her job, her friends, nothing. She has 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:53.960 a little spirit guide named Orion that only she 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:56.299 can see, and she has to navigate her relationships 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.700 with these five men who all claim to be her boyfriend, 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:00.919 but she doesn't know who she can trust. That 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:02.980 sounds more like a psychological thriller than 00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:05.860 a romance game. It blends the two genres brilliantly. 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:07.899 In some of the story routes, if you make the 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:09.779 wrong choice, the love interest might actually 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:12.379 turn out to be dangerous or even kill you. It 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:15.100 adds this layer of genuine... suspense, and paranoia 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:17.759 to the whole experience. It proved that autumn 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:20.700 games could be dark, psychological, and really 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:24.100 intense. And speaking of dark, we have to mention 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:28.039 the Diabolic Levers series. Ah, yes. Which is, 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:29.580 well, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:32.799 about a group of vampire brothers, but not the 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.539 noble, tragic vampires of Hakuuki. No. What kind 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:37.570 of vampires are we talking about? Diabolic Lovers 00:15:37.570 --> 00:15:40.629 caters to a much, much darker fantasy. The love 00:15:40.629 --> 00:15:43.009 interests are all sadists. They are emotionally 00:15:43.009 --> 00:15:45.590 and verbally abusive. It's what's known as a 00:15:45.590 --> 00:15:49.149 deus or sadism -focused game. That seems, I mean, 00:15:49.169 --> 00:15:51.870 that seems risky and really controversial. It 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:53.389 was incredibly controversial, but it was also 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:56.289 massive. Titles in the source, like Diabolic 00:15:56.289 --> 00:15:58.850 Lovers, More Blood and Vanded Carnival, show 00:15:58.850 --> 00:16:01.549 that it found a huge audience. It tapped into 00:16:01.549 --> 00:16:03.710 the bad boy trope and just dialed it up to 11, 00:16:03.889 --> 00:16:06.980 or maybe 100. It's just impressive how they segmented 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:09.200 the market. They have the historical samurai 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.700 niche, the psychological mystery niche, the sadistic 00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:15.919 vampire niche, all within the broader romance 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.779 genre. They essentially built a buffet for every 00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:21.039 possible taste. And notice the hardware progression 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:22.980 in this section. This is really fascinating to 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:24.399 me if you look at it from a business analysis 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.379 perspective. What do you see? Walk me through 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:28.399 it. Okay, so the automate list starts on the 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.100 PlayStation 2 around 2005 to 2010. But right 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:35.200 around 2008, there is an aggressive, very sudden 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.620 shift to the PSP, the PlayStation Portable. Oh, 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:41.220 right. Yeah. The list is suddenly all PSP. And 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:44.240 then later on, it's all PS Vita. Exactly. While 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:46.220 the rest of the gaming world was moving to high 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:48.700 definition home consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:51.840 360, the auto market moved in the complete opposite 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.700 direction. It went to handhelds. Why do you think 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:56.500 that is? I would assume you'd want to see the 00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:58.899 handsome samurai on your big screen TV. Think 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:00.929 about the nature of the game, though. It's a 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:03.169 visual novel. It's basically like reading an 00:17:03.169 --> 00:17:05.990 interactive book. It's a very intimate, personal 00:17:05.990 --> 00:17:08.589 experience. You don't necessarily want to play 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:11.990 a romance game on the big 50 -inch TV in the 00:17:11.990 --> 00:17:13.910 living room with your family walking by. Hey, 00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:16.250 Mom, just dating a vampire who keeps insulting 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:18.990 me, don't mind me. Exactly. You want to play 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:21.670 it in your bedroom or on the train during your 00:17:21.670 --> 00:17:25.029 commute or in a cafe, ideally somewhere private. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.059 Handheld offered that privacy and portability 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.720 that was perfect for the genre. That makes total 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.380 sense. And the PSP and Vita were perfect for 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:35.500 that kind of experience. And Idea Factory recognized 00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:38.160 that immediately. They became one of the biggest 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.339 supporters of the PS Vita long, long after other 00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:43.700 major developers had completely abandoned it. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.000 The source shows them releasing games on the 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.299 Vita well into 2016 and 2017. So they basically 00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:52.079 kept that handheld alive for their specific audience. 00:17:52.339 --> 00:17:54.000 That's the kind of loyalty you don't see often. 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:56.779 It's symbiotic, right? The audience bought the 00:17:56.779 --> 00:17:58.819 hardware specifically for the Automate games, 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.460 and the company kept supplying them with a steady 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:04.259 stream of new titles. They built their own ecosystem 00:18:04.259 --> 00:18:06.519 on that device. Okay, so we've got the strategy 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.140 RPG roots, and we've got this massive romance 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.980 empire they built. Looking at section four of 00:18:11.980 --> 00:18:13.599 our outline, there's another whole side to this 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.240 factory, the collaborations. Yes, the games developed 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:19.519 section of the source lists other developers 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.680 alongside Idea Factory, and this is where things 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:26.220 get really meta. We have to talk about the Compile 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:28.119 Heart connection and, of course, Hyperdimension 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:31.200 Neptunia. This series started around 2010, developed 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.920 with their internal studio Compile Heart, but 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.039 also in collaboration with Nippon He Software 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:39.539 and Gust. The source lists those names. Yeah. 00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:41.160 For people who don't follow the nitty gritty 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:44.579 of Japanese RPGs. Who are these guys? Okay, so 00:18:44.579 --> 00:18:46.940 Nippon Ichi is famous for the Disgaea series, 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:49.279 these incredibly over -the -top strategy games 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.119 where you can level up to level 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.140 and do billions of points of damage. And Gust 00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:57.440 is famous for the Atelier series, these very 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.559 charming, cozy games about alchemy and crafting. 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:02.779 Putting them together with Idea Factory is like, 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:05.700 well, the outline calls it the Avengers of niche 00:19:05.700 --> 00:19:07.880 RPGs, and that's not far off. That's a great 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:09.720 way to put it. It's a niche crossover event. 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:12.079 And the game itself, Hyper Dimension Neptune, 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:15.240 is a full -blown satire of the video game industry. 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:18.799 The entire setting is a world called Game Industry. 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:21.720 Game Industry. Okay, real subtle there. The main 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:25.930 characters are... literal anthropomorphic personifications 00:19:25.930 --> 00:19:28.730 of game consoles. Wait, really? Like human versions 00:19:28.730 --> 00:19:32.230 of consoles? Yes. The protagonist, Neptune, represents 00:19:32.230 --> 00:19:34.930 a fictional Sega console that never came out. 00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:37.930 Noir represents the PlayStation. Blank represents 00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:41.349 Nintendo. Vert represents the Xbox. And they 00:19:41.349 --> 00:19:43.609 are goddesses fighting each other in a literal 00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:46.450 console war. That is the most idea factory thing 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.509 I have ever heard. It's so self -referential. 00:19:48.589 --> 00:19:51.170 It's a snake eating its own tail, but the snake 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:54.140 is an anime girl. It is. And it resonated. It 00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:56.539 became a massive franchise for them. The Source 00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:59.140 lists Hyperdimension Neptunia, MK2, Victory, 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:01.980 Megadimension Neptunia 7th. It became a third 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:04.240 pillar of their business, right alongside Automate 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:06.380 and their older strategy games. Why do you think 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:08.390 this worked? On the surface, it sounds like a 00:20:08.390 --> 00:20:10.029 joke that would get old in about five minutes. 00:20:10.210 --> 00:20:12.369 It worked because it embraced the mo culture 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:14.890 of the time. You know, cute anime girls doing 00:20:14.890 --> 00:20:17.849 cute things. But it wrapped it in this very specific, 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:21.210 very nerdy gamer humor. The characters would 00:20:21.210 --> 00:20:23.269 break the fourth wall constantly. They would 00:20:23.269 --> 00:20:25.509 complain about grinding for experience points. 00:20:25.809 --> 00:20:28.630 They would make inside jokes about piracy or 00:20:28.630 --> 00:20:31.210 frame rates or game bugs. So they were laughing 00:20:31.210 --> 00:20:33.829 with their audience, not at them. Exactly. It 00:20:33.829 --> 00:20:36.009 made the player feel smart for getting all the 00:20:36.009 --> 00:20:38.279 references. It was a game for people who truly 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:40.740 loved video games and the culture around them. 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:42.880 I also see some other crossover games here in 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:46.119 the Source. Cross Edge from 2008 and Trinity 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:48.839 Universe from 2010. Yeah, these are what you'd 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:51.579 call festival games. They are pure fan service. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.460 They take characters from Idea Factor games, 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.960 from Nippon Ichi games, sometimes from Capcom 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.359 or Namco Bandai games, and just throw them all 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.299 into one big RPG. It's an excuse to see all your 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:04.700 favorites interact. What if my favorite character 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:07.460 from Game A fought the villain from Game B? It's 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:09.700 literally playing with your action figures. That's 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:12.000 exactly what it is. And it reinforces that community 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.039 feeling. If you are a fan of these niche Japanese 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.480 games, Idea Factory is telling you, we see you. 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:20.599 We are all in this weird little club together. 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:22.680 Before we move on from this section, I have to 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:25.000 ask you about two specific titles that are listed 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.019 here because the names are just incredible. First 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:31.309 one. Sorcery Saga, Curse of the Great Curry God. 00:21:31.529 --> 00:21:35.130 Yes. Released on the PS Vita, it's a dungeon 00:21:35.130 --> 00:21:37.730 crawler, a roguelike game, but the central theme 00:21:37.730 --> 00:21:42.410 is making curry. Making curry. You are a young 00:21:42.410 --> 00:21:44.890 sorceress, and you are fighting your way through 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:47.309 dungeons filled with angry ingredients to find 00:21:47.309 --> 00:21:50.170 the legendary spices to make the ultimate curry 00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:52.710 to save your friend's curry restaurant. I love 00:21:52.710 --> 00:21:55.369 it. It takes a very serious, often punishing 00:21:55.369 --> 00:21:58.009 genre, the roguelike, and just makes it... Completely 00:21:58.009 --> 00:21:59.950 ridiculous. And then there's this one, which 00:21:59.950 --> 00:22:03.210 I might struggle to say. Trillion, one billion. 00:22:03.430 --> 00:22:06.369 God of Destruction. Yes. The number one trillion 00:22:06.369 --> 00:22:08.549 is literally in the title. Why? What does that 00:22:08.549 --> 00:22:10.650 even mean? The premise of the game is that the 00:22:10.650 --> 00:22:13.569 final boss, the God of Destruction, has one trillion 00:22:13.569 --> 00:22:18.750 hit points. Get out. One trillion. As in... A 00:22:18.750 --> 00:22:21.809 one followed by 12 zeros. One trillion. And your 00:22:21.809 --> 00:22:24.210 job is to whittle it down. You train a character, 00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:26.069 you send them to fight the boss, they do some 00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:28.410 damage, and then they inevitably die a heroic 00:22:28.410 --> 00:22:31.450 death. But their skills and power are passed 00:22:31.450 --> 00:22:34.210 on to the next character you train. It's a game 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:37.329 about sacrifice and generational attrition. That 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:40.839 is such a bold... almost hostile design choice 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.940 it's terrifying it's an absurd mechanic but it 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:46.440 grabs your attention immediately doesn't it it 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.900 stands out on a store shelf god of destruction 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:52.200 sounds generic one trillion hp god of destruction 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:54.779 sounds like a personal challenge it really does 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:57.279 it sounds impossible and that is the idea factory 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:59.119 way they aren't afraid to be weird they know 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:00.920 they can't compete with final fantasy on graphics 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:03.319 or budget so they compete on wait they did what 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.720 they compete on concept so they've conquered 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:09.160 japan with strategy rpgs and a massive game empire. 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:12.420 But the world is a big place. Section 5 of our 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:15.160 outline covers their expansion to the West. This 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:17.259 is a relatively recent development in the grand 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:19.859 scheme of their 30 -year history. Idea Factory 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:22.259 International was established on September 30, 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.920 2013. And they set it up in California, right 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.779 in the heart of the American games industry. 00:23:28.059 --> 00:23:30.859 Correct. Why does this matter so much? Before 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:34.259 2013, how were we in the West getting these games? 00:23:34.829 --> 00:23:37.849 Usually through third -party publishers. Companies 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:42.410 like NIS America or Axis Games or Atlas USA would 00:23:42.410 --> 00:23:45.150 license a title like Hakuki or Spectral Force, 00:23:45.430 --> 00:23:47.730 handle the translation and localization themselves, 00:23:48.150 --> 00:23:50.500 and then publish it. So Idea Factory was getting 00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:52.880 paid, but they weren't really controlling the 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.480 message or the distribution. Exactly. They were 00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:57.539 getting a licensing fee, which is nice, but the 00:23:57.539 --> 00:23:59.539 Western publisher was taking a big cut of the 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:01.779 profits and making all the decisions about marketing 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:04.539 and release dates. By opening their own branch 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:07.319 in California, they signaled a new level of confidence. 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:10.099 They were basically saying, we know we have an 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:12.480 audience in the West and we want to sell to them 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.690 directly. It cuts out the middleman. It cuts 00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:16.750 out the middleman and it allows them to control 00:24:16.750 --> 00:24:19.490 their own destiny in the global market. They 00:24:19.490 --> 00:24:21.950 can decide exactly which games to localize and 00:24:21.950 --> 00:24:24.009 when. They can interact with their own fans. 00:24:24.289 --> 00:24:26.430 It was a real maturing moment for the company. 00:24:26.630 --> 00:24:29.710 They realized that niche in Japan plus niche 00:24:29.710 --> 00:24:32.450 in America plus niche in Europe actually equals 00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:34.910 a pretty decent sized global market. But then 00:24:34.910 --> 00:24:37.609 we get a curveball. The source mentions a 2022 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:41.009 announcement. A whole new division called Altergear. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:43.720 This one is fascinating to me. The source says 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.400 Altergear is a division focused on visual novel 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:49.640 titles aimed at a male audience. Wait a second. 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.440 So they spent 15 years perfecting the art of 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:54.940 the visual novel for women with Ottoman. They 00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.660 built an entire empire on it. And now they are 00:24:57.660 --> 00:24:59.579 circling all the way back to men. It certainly 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:01.759 seems so. Why would they do that? Is the Ottoman 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.119 market slowing down or something? That's just 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:06.000 speculation. But it could be a number of things. 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:08.759 It could be that they feel the Atom market is 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:11.309 saturated. largely by their own products. They've 00:25:11.309 --> 00:25:13.170 released so many games that maybe the market 00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:15.309 is getting a bit tired. Or perhaps they see a 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:18.529 resurgence in interest for male -oriented visual 00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:21.210 novels on consoles and want to apply what they've 00:25:21.210 --> 00:25:22.950 learned. It just goes to show that they are still 00:25:22.950 --> 00:25:25.490 iterating, even after 30 years. They aren't just 00:25:25.490 --> 00:25:27.349 sitting on their laurels. It's, OK, we won the 00:25:27.349 --> 00:25:29.809 Audemars, what's the next campaign? Let's try 00:25:29.809 --> 00:25:31.769 the guys again, but this time we're the experts. 00:25:32.009 --> 00:25:34.269 It's the factory at work. Shut down one production 00:25:34.269 --> 00:25:36.329 line, start up a new one. I want to zoom out 00:25:36.329 --> 00:25:38.960 a bit and look at the lists in the source. as 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.099 a kind of historical map. We touched on their 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.740 platform loyalty to PlayStation, but there's 00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:46.299 a weird little blip in the timeline. The Xbox 00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:51.240 360. Ah, yes. The great Xbox 360 anomaly. If 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:54.339 you look at the dates between, say, 2006 to 2010, 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:58.240 you see Spectral Force 3, Innocent Rage, Absolute, 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.299 Blazing Infinity, Diario, Rebirth, Moon Legend, 00:26:01.460 --> 00:26:04.920 all on Xbox 360. This was a very, very specific 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.160 moment in gaming history. Microsoft was trying 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.359 desperately to break into the Japanese market 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:13.420 with the 360. They knew that to win over Japan, 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:17.359 they needed Japanese RPGs. So they actively courted 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.059 Japanese developers. They likely offered financial 00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:22.539 incentives, marketing support, easier development 00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:25.839 tools, whatever it took to get games on the 360. 00:26:26.299 --> 00:26:28.380 And a smaller company like Idea Factory jumped 00:26:28.380 --> 00:26:30.960 on board. They did. For a few years, if you wanted 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.140 to play the newest idea... factory grand strategy 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:38.359 RPG, you had to own an Xbox 360. It was a strange 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:40.880 time. It didn't last long. The Xbox never really 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:43.279 took off in Japan in a big way. But the list 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:45.299 captures that effort perfectly. It's like a fossil 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:47.200 record. You can see the sediment layer in their 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:49.200 history where the Xbox happens. It also shows 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.519 their pragmatism. You know, if Microsoft is offering 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.259 support and money to develop for their console, 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:55.339 why not take it? And then if you look at the 00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:58.160 modern era in the source, say 2017 and beyond, 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.660 you see the shift back. A lot of PS4 games, but 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:06.170 also. Windows. PC. Yes. Seeing a game like Cyber 00:27:06.170 --> 00:27:08.650 Dimension Neptunia, four goddesses online hitting 00:27:08.650 --> 00:27:11.150 Windows is a huge deal. Why is that so significant? 00:27:11.430 --> 00:27:13.210 Because for the longest time, the vast majority 00:27:13.210 --> 00:27:15.710 of Japanese console developers just ignored the 00:27:15.710 --> 00:27:18.650 PC market. There was a perception that PC gaming 00:27:18.650 --> 00:27:21.750 is for work or for weird Western games like shooters, 00:27:21.970 --> 00:27:24.150 but the rise of Steam as a global distribution 00:27:24.150 --> 00:27:27.369 platform completely changed that. And Idea Factory 00:27:27.369 --> 00:27:30.049 International, their U .S. branch, likely pushed 00:27:30.049 --> 00:27:32.650 really hard for this. Absolutely. The Western 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.799 audience games on PC. A huge part of it does. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.779 By porting their back catalog and their new releases 00:27:38.779 --> 00:27:42.380 to Steam, they unlocked a massive new global 00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:44.920 audience that doesn't necessarily own a PlayStation. 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:47.859 It was another brilliant, pragmatic move. So 00:27:47.859 --> 00:27:50.019 we've tracked them from the post -Data East days 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:53.019 of 1994 through the PlayStation strategy era, 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.599 the ultimate revolution on handhelds, the meta 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:57.960 humor of Neptunia, all the way to the modern 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:00.759 global PC era. It really is quite a trajectory 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.160 when you lay it all out like that. So let's try 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:05.079 and wrap this up. What is the big picture here? 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:08.200 What is the story of Idea Factory? I think Idea 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:10.720 Factory is a chameleon. That is the best word 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.619 to describe them. They change their colors to 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:14.920 suit their environment to survive. They started 00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:18.160 with those gritty, super serious strategy games, 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:21.599 Spectral Force. Then they pivoted to completely 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:24.319 dominate the romance genre for women with Otome, 00:28:24.420 --> 00:28:26.680 changing their entire company culture in the 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:28.960 process. Then they partnered with other studios 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:32.480 to make these self -aware, meta -commentary RPGs 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.250 like Neptunia. And finally, they established 00:28:35.250 --> 00:28:37.630 a beachhead in the U .S. to sell their very, 00:28:37.710 --> 00:28:40.450 very Japanese games directly to fans all over 00:28:40.450 --> 00:28:42.869 the world. The takeaway for me, I think, is that 00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:44.589 they prove you don't need to be making Call of 00:28:44.589 --> 00:28:47.369 Duty or Mario to succeed. You don't need to be 00:28:47.369 --> 00:28:49.109 the biggest company in the world with the biggest 00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:51.430 marketing budget. No, you just need to find your 00:28:51.430 --> 00:28:54.049 audience, however small, and serve them faithfully. 00:28:54.690 --> 00:28:56.809 Whether that audience wants to manage a fantasy 00:28:56.809 --> 00:28:59.630 kingdom for 100 hours, fight with anime consoles, 00:28:59.849 --> 00:29:03.190 or date a tragic member of the Shinsengumi. If 00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:04.950 you feed the niche, the niche will feed you. 00:29:05.369 --> 00:29:07.970 Precisely. They have survived by being indispensable 00:29:07.970 --> 00:29:10.930 to small, passionate groups of people, rather 00:29:10.930 --> 00:29:13.329 than being kind of liked by everyone and truly 00:29:13.329 --> 00:29:15.329 loved by no one. All right, so here's a final 00:29:15.329 --> 00:29:17.089 thought to leave you with. We mentioned that 00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:19.809 2022 announcement of UltraGear, their return 00:29:19.809 --> 00:29:23.299 to male -targeted visual novels. Now, Idea Factory 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:25.799 has spent the last decade and a half mastering 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:28.700 the art of romance games for a female audience. 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:30.859 You know exactly what makes a heart flutter, 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:33.039 what pacing works, what makes a story sticky 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:35.559 for that audience. Indeed, they have refined 00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:37.960 that formula down to an absolute science through 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:40.759 dozens and dozens of games. So my question is 00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:44.960 this. Will that experience change how they make 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.839 games for men? Will we see male -oriented visual 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:50.400 novels from them that have the kind of emotional 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:52.799 depth and character complexity of a top -tier 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:55.660 autumn game? Or will they just go back to the 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:58.019 old tired tropes we often see in that genre? 00:29:58.329 --> 00:30:00.490 That is a really provocative question. Usually 00:30:00.490 --> 00:30:03.089 those two genres, autumn games and male -targeted 00:30:03.089 --> 00:30:05.369 visual novels, are kept very separate. The design 00:30:05.369 --> 00:30:07.029 philosophies, the writing styles, they're often 00:30:07.029 --> 00:30:09.150 completely different, but they can cross -pollinate. 00:30:09.190 --> 00:30:10.950 If they can bring that emotional intelligence 00:30:10.950 --> 00:30:12.890 they learned from Automate over to Alter Gear, 00:30:13.029 --> 00:30:15.150 that could be something really special. They 00:30:15.150 --> 00:30:17.650 could end up reinventing the genre all over again, 00:30:17.789 --> 00:30:20.369 just like they did back in 2008. I guess we'll 00:30:20.369 --> 00:30:22.049 just have to wait and see what rolls off the 00:30:22.049 --> 00:30:24.579 factory line next. Thanks for joining us on this 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:26.779 deep dive into the weird, wonderful, and ever 00:30:26.779 --> 00:30:29.359 -changing world of Idea Factory. It was a pleasure. 00:30:29.619 --> 00:30:30.779 See you in the next deep dive.