[Tokyu Land Corporation] Supporting game development based at “404 Not Found” in Shibuya Sakura Stage
“Game Creator Finding” project starts to discover and support game creators aiming to become world-class
*Tokyu Land Corporation*
Press release: September 10, 2024
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Supporting game development based at “404 Not Found” in Shibuya Sakura Stage “Game
“Creator Finding” project started
Tokyu Land Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Hiroaki Hoshino, hereinafter referred to as “Tokyu Land Corporation”) and Skeleton Crew Co., Ltd.
Studio (Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, President: Masahiko Murakami, hereinafter referred to as “Skeleton Crew Studio”) is Shibuya Sakura Stage (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as “Shibuya Sakura Stage”) is a creator base “404 Not Found”
A new project to support indie game creators and their works, aiming to be a place to disseminate game content to the world, “Game Creator Finding” (hereinafter referred to as “this project”). 404 Not on July 25, 2024
In conjunction with the opening of the Foundation, we are proceeding with the selection and implementation of support creators, and we would like to inform you that we have decided to support two works.
This project provides a wide range of support, including financial support for production, brushing up game content, providing resources that cannot be covered by the production team, and providing a working environment and PR opportunities. Also, 404
Not
Found will introduce works, hold trial sessions, and create
opportunities for technical exchange.In addition to supporting works, participants will plan and realize opportunities for various works and creators to work together to refine their titles. Aim for a place.
In this project, 404 Not
Skeleton is the representative director of the Shibuya Asobiba Production Committee, which operates Found together with Tokyu Land Corporation, and is also the organizer of Japan’s largest indie game festival, BitSummit.
Crew
Led by Studio CEO Masahiko Murakami, game producers and creative advisors gather together to hone their creativity together by discovering and supporting creators who are active in Japan and around the world and who want to further expand their activities. That’s what I’m aiming for.
Furthermore, this project will be expanded to the wider Shibuya area* starting from the Shibuya Sakura Stage, and will be fully supported by Tokyu Land, providing support not only for production and activity bases and production costs, but also for PR at the launch of the work. We will also work on support programs that provide an environment where the creators we support can concentrate on their creativity, such as providing a place for communication between creators, depending on their circumstances.
* ■Support for creator community*
This project will focus on production support, but will also broadly support the indie game creator community. Game Creator
Incubation (GCI) As a concept, the goal of the work is not “to be released to the world” but “to be noticed around the world.” 404 NOT
We are currently preparing to deploy the platform mainly around Found.
Tokyu Land Corporation and Skeleton Crew Studio will be working on Shibuya Sakura Stage and 404 Not in this project.
We will continue to work hard to support the new challenges of the creators who gather at Found and provide an environment where they can aim to maximize their potential.
Creator base “404 Not Found (Shibuya Sakura Stage)”
Creator base “404 Not Found (Shibuya Sakura Stage)”
* ■Introduction of supported works 1.*
* ・“Giruguru” Production: Production Exabilities*
*A challenging work that depicts the “life” of modern youth from the Japanese perspective of life and death, including the other shores and this shore, reincarnation and liberation.*
* Silence and movement, life and death, hope and despair, cuteness and disgust, woven together by a girl who clings to life and a girl who despairs of life. *
* A real-time tactical adventure game where all “opposites” are mixed and a new way of being is born. *
*[STORY]*
The girls who despaired of life wandered into a world between life and death, where there is nothing…
In that world, they meet a girl. The girl is the only one in this ambiguous world
He was a “heretic” who strongly wished to “live”, resisted the approaching enemy, resisted fate, and stood by the girls, expressing his feelings to them.
This is a real-time tactical adventure in which girls choose their fates based on their own choices.
*Production Exabilities Introduction*
A studio where young creators who became independent from major game manufacturers and started expanding globally.
A challenging team that researches high-end content expression in a small scale organization.
* Kazufumi Narawa*
Representative Director/Studio Head
Former Koei Tecmo Games game planner.
Currently working as a studio head and director, he also works as a scenario writer, novelist, game designer, and vocational school instructor in addition to company management.
* Fumiya Nishimura*
lead engineer
Former Koei Tecmo Games lead engineer.
He was selected as a lead programmer at a young age and was active. He joined the studio to realize his ideal game production.
*Comment from Mr. Narawa*
: In this work, we would like to use our ideas to depict the “reincarnation” and “opposite” that lie at the root of life. I’m looking forward to seeing what my friends will create in an empty lot in Shibuya, where people who support this kind of exquisite work gather, and I’ll do my best to develop it!
* ■Work summary*
Title name: Giruguru
Release schedule: Scheduled for 2025
Price: TBD
Platform: PC and others to be determined
* ■Introduction of supported works 2.*
* ・“TWIN SOULS” Production: CORE8*
* An ambitious action game that will overwhelm you with its unique art based on Japanese mythology. *
* An action-adventure that follows the story of human protagonists who encounter various kinds of love while looking at the world from their own perspectives. *
*[STORY]*
If we dedicate ourselves to God and become one with Him, we will use the power of God,
Let’s take over the world.
A long time ago, there was a time when gods and humans were close. There were two souls that were attracted to each other.
A boy who lives in an invaded forest and a king who continues to invade in order to develop his country.
These two souls attract even the gods and resonate with them. What is justice? love is? What is death?
A journey of the soul begins, reconsidering the roots of humanity. *Introducing CORE8*
An art-based game studio established by CEO Mr. Hotta to pursue art and games.
*Noboru Hotta* (CORE8 Inc./Representative Director)
He built up a career as an art director at companies such as Konami and Sega, and was involved in various famous titles. After that, he was involved in the establishment of Grounding Co., Ltd., and as CCO/Creative Director produced numerous titles such as consumer games, social games, smartphone games, VR, and board games.
In 2019, he left the company to pursue his own unique style and started CORE8inc.
*Comment from Mr. Hotta*: The title “TWIN SOULS”, which has been in the works for many years, was created by Game Creator.
I’m very excited to get started through the Finding project. We would like to express our gratitude to many people including Tokyu Land Corporation, Mr. Murakami, and Mr. Ito for their support.
We would like to deliver creative works from Japan to the world from “Not Found.”
* ■Work summary*
Title name: TWIN SOULS
Scheduled release: Scheduled for 2026
Price: TBD
Platform: PC and others to be determined
* ■Comments from members leading this project*
*General Producer*
* Masahiko Murakami*
Representative Director of Skeleton Crew Studio Co., Ltd.
Director of Japan Independent Game Association
Shibuya Asobiba Production Committee Representative Director After graduating from an art school in the United States, he worked as a game artist in San Francisco and Kyoto before starting his own business in 2016. He is involved in a wide range of activities including game development, XR content development, event production, and urban development.
Sponsored by BitSummit, Japan’s largest indie game festival. *Comment from Mr. Murakami*: We hope that this project will create more opportunities for creators. “404 Not” in Shibuya
By collaborating with the creators we met through “Found” and BitSummit, we hope to create new possibilities that are valuable to them. In the future, we would like to collaborate with companies that are considering title support or investment, and implement game support projects, pitch contests, exchange events, etc.
*Business Producer*
* Akinari Ito*
Free content producer / BizDev
16 years at Sony Interactive Entertainment
Focusing on supporting Japanese creators and launching an Indies Game environment.
After becoming independent, he launched a game publishing business at Sony Music Entertainment and played a central role in it.
Currently, as a freelance producer, he is involved in content production and business creation for various companies, as well as creator support and development projects.
*Comment from Mr. Ito:*
I feel that it was inevitable that we would be working together with Tokyu Land Corporation and Mr. Murakami to discuss building an environment for creators, who we have always cooperated with no matter what the circumstances. . I will do my best to provide more in-depth support to everyone who will be working with me from now on, based on the experience I have had in thinking up and implementing various types of support.
* ■Tokyu Land Corporation’s initiative in the wider Shibuya area “PROJECT LIFE LAND SHIBUYA” *
“PROJECT LIFE LAND
SHIBUYA” is an initiative of Tokyu Land Corporation in the greater Shibuya area based on the concept of “Let’s start with people.” Through co-creation with diverse people and companies and the creation of mechanisms and spaces for exchange, we create a cycle of
“creation,” “dissemination,” and “accumulation,” and build partnerships and alliances with people and companies that sympathize with us.
Tokyu Land Corporation plans to open four projects in the Shibuya Sakuragaoka, Harajuku/Jingumae, Daikanyama, and Yoyogi Park areas by 2024. By linking areas in the greater Shibuya area, we will enhance the appeal of the town from a long-term perspective.
*The wider Shibuya area refers to the area within a radius of approximately 2.5 km from Shibuya Station, as defined in the Tokyu Group’s Shibuya town development strategy.
PROJECT LIFE LAND SHIBUYA
HP: https://life-land-shibuya.com
Urban development in the wider Shibuya area
HP: https://www.tokyu-land.co.jp/urban/area/shibuya.html