Kairosoft
Industry | Video game |
---|---|
Founded | 1996 (original) September 2007 (incorporated), 2014 (large business) |
Founder | Kazuyuki Usui |
Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 450 |
Website | kairopark |
Kairosoft (カイロソフト) is a Japanese video game developer located in Tokyo, Japan that has created a number of simulation games for cell phones and PCs. Founded in 1996, the company has developed a number of mobile games for the Japanese market and has found success in porting them to the modern iOS and Android operating systems.[1] The company was ranked 30th in Pocket Gamer's "top 50 developers of 2012" list.[2]
History
Kairosoft was founded as a dōjin games developer in 1996, and is currently located in the Nishi-Shinjuku district of Tokyo with only nine employees at the start and now they have 450 employees.[1] They started out developing simulation games for the Windows platform, the first of which was released in 1996 and simulated a used bookstore, and another example was the original Game Dev Story released in 1997, with a sequel released in 2001.[3] In 2001, Kairosoft switched to developing mobile simulation games for the Japanese cell phone market, which was much more developed than America's.[1][4] The company was incorporated in September 2007, and launched a new website on November 4, 2008.
With the release of Game Dev Story for iOS and Android in 2010, Kairosoft found itself a large hit, which reached the top ten in iPhone app sales in its first week.[5] Kairosoft continued to port over games that it had previously developed for other platforms. Pocket Gamer ranked Kairosoft 30th on its "top 50 developers of 2012" list, calling Kairosoft games a "genre in their own right" but noting that they still were mostly a niche in the market.[2] Now they are releasing a port of World Cruise Story for the Windows 10 platform.
List of Kairosoft's English games for WildTangent
Name | WildTangent release date | Latest update |
Anime Studio Story | June 7, 2015 [6] | August 15, 2016 (1.19) |
Beastie Bay | April 10, 2013 | June 10, 2016 (3.12) |
Biz Builder Delux | May 16, 2016 | Not yet updated |
Bonbon Cakery | August 23, 2016 | Not yet updated |
Legends of Heropolis | Christmas 2016 | — |
Dungeon Village | August 15, 2013 | June 30, 2016 (2.31) |
The Manga Works | Thanksgiving 2016 | — |
Skyforce Unite! | June 17, 2016 | Not yet updated |
Mega Mall Story | April 10, 2012[7][8] | October 1, 2016 (4.15) |
Magazine Mogul | August 15, 2015 | June 17, 2016 (1.27) |
Kairobotica | April 16, 2013 | June 7, 2015 (2.51) |
Game Dev Story | June 10, 2011 | October 2, 2016 (5.83) |
List of mobile games available in English
- Anime Studio Story
- Beastie Bay
- Biz Builder Delux
- Bonbon Cakery
- Cafeteria Nipponica
- Card Change
- Dream House Days
- Dungeon Village
- Epic Astro Story
- Fish Pond Park
- Game Dev Story
- Grand Prix Story
- High Sea Saga
- Hot Springs Story
- Kairobotica
- Legend of Heropolis
- Manga Works
- Magazine Mogul[9]
- Mega Mall Story
- Ninja Village
- Oh! Edo Towns
- Pocket Academy
- Pocket Arcade Story
- Pocket Clothier
- Pocket Harvest[10]
- Pocket League Story
- Pocket League Story 2
- Pocket Stables
- Skyforce Unite!
- Station Manager
- Tennis Club Story
- The Pyraplex
- The Ramen Sensei
- The Sushi Spinnery
- Venture Towns
- World Cruise Story
List of computer games available in English
Game Name | Operating System |
---|---|
Blue Sky Squadron | Windows 10 |
Cafeteria Nipponica | Windows 8 |
Departure!! Shipping Freighter | Windows 10 |
Dragging Cat Rebel | Windows 8 |
Excitement! Manga Dojo | Windows 8 |
Game Center Club | Windows 10 |
Manga Path | Windows 8/10 |
Mega Mall Story | Windows 7/10 |
Million March | Windows 7 |
Munch Munch Kairo-kun | Not defined |
Outdoor Excavation Company | Windows Vista/7/8 |
Piko Piko! Game Expo | Windows 10 |
Prestigious Pocket Academy 1 & 2 | Windows 7 |
Royal Gallery Academy | Windows Vista |
World Cruise Story | Windows 10 |
List of untranslated games
Mobile
- Departure!! Shipping Freighter (Keitai only)
- Dragging Cat Rebel
- Excitement! Manga Dojo (iOS and Keitai only)
- Friends Entertainment Building
- Game Center Club
- Good Ramen Museum ~National Hen~
- Manga Path
- Million March (Keitai only)
- Munch Munch Kairo-kun
- Outdoor Excavation Company (Keitai only)
- Piko Piko! Game Expo (Keitai only)
- Prestigious Pocket Academy 1 (Android and Keitai only)
- Royal Gallery Academy (Keitai only)
- Social Game Dev Dream (Android and Keitai only)
- Start!! Hero Base
- Wai Wai! Game Dealer (iOS and Keitai only)
- Witch Quest
PC
- Bookstore Story
- Game Developing Countries
- Game Developing Countries II DX
- The Narrow Path to Manga
- The Secondhand-book Store
- The Secondhand-book Store 2
References
- ^ a b c Brown, Mark (August 5, 2011). "Kairosoft: Game Dev Story's game dev story". Wired. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ a b Jordan, Jon (February 26, 2012). "The PocketGamer.biz top 50 developers of 2012: 30 to 21". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Lada, Jenni (June 1, 2012). "Important Importables: Kairosoft". Technology Tell. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ Nicholson, Brad (November 30, 2010). "'Game Dev Story 2' Coming To iOS, But Not 'Soon'". Touch Arcade. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Cowan, Danny (October 19, 2010). "Top-Grossing iTunes Apps: Cartoon Wars 2, Game Dev Story Enter Charts". Gamasutra. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Ronson, Mark. "Kairosoft Finally Banging Off Anime Studio Story As #1 on the WildTangent Market!". WildTangent. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
- ^ Germanotta, Stefani. "Kairosoft Mega Mall Story Game Appears With Banner For The First Time on WildTangent!". TechRadar. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
- ^ Landis, Dave. "The Next Venture of Kairosoft on WildTangent Appears in Asia!". GregToDiffer. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ "Magazine Mogul - Android Apps on Google Play".
- ^ Jonathan (November 7, 2013). "Pocket Harvest Walkthrough Guide for Beginners". Retrieved November 7, 2013.