Kairosoft
Kairosoft (Japanese: カイロソフト, Hepburn: Kairosofuto) is a Japanese video game developer located in Tokyo, Japan that has created a number of simulation games for cell phones, PCs and Nintendo Switch. Founded in 1996, the company has developed a number of mobile games for the Japanese market and has found great 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]
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996; 26 years ago (original) September 2007 (incorporated), 2014 (large business) |
| Founder | Kazuyuki Usui |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 14 |
| Website | kairosoft |
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. 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]
Games
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 | Not yet updated |
| 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) |
Mobile games available in English
| Name | Play Store release date |
|---|---|
| The Manga Works | Aug 4, 2016 |
| Game Dev Story | Dec 10, 2010 |
| Boxing Gym Story | Feb 9, 2021 |
| Tropical Resort Story | Jun 19, 2022 |
| Grand Prix Story | Jun 8, 2011 |
| Dream Park Story | Oct 1, 2021 |
| Station Manager | Jun 8, 2016 |
| Dungeon Village | Mar 2, 2012 |
| Hot Springs Story 2 | Nov 16, 2020 |
| Home Run High | May 1, 2017 |
| Mega Mall Story 2 | May 21, 2019 |
| Pocket Academy | Apr 25, 2012 |
| Burger Bistro Story | May 7, 2021 |
| Forest Camp Story | Jun 30, 2021 |
| The Sushi Spinnery | Jul 3, 2012 |
| Pool Slide Story | Dec 18, 2017 |
| Silver Screen Story | Jun 5, 2019 |
| The Ramen Sensei | May 1, 2015 |
| Bonbon Cakery | Mar 5, 2015 |
| Pocket League Story | Sep 7, 2011 |
| Dream House Days | Jan 28, 2013 |
| Pocket Harvest | Oct 30, 2013 |
| Basketball Club Story | Jun 30, 2019 |
| Legends of Heropolis | Jul 19, 2016 |
| Beastie Bay | Sep 28, 2012 |
| Dream Town Story | Dec 11, 2017 |
| High Sea Saga | Feb 9, 2015 |
| March to a Million | Jan 23, 2017 |
| Kingdom Adventurers | Aug 29, 2019 |
| Pocket Clothier | Jun 7, 2012 |
| Pocket Academy ZERO | Dec 21, 2012 |
| Pocket League Story 2 | Jul 1, 2013 |
| Grand Prix Story 2 | Jul 3, 2017 |
| The Ramen Sensei 2 | Feb 15, 2018 |
| Biz Builder Delux SP | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Skyforce Unite! | Mar 24, 2016 |
| Quest Town Saga | Jan 21, 2019 |
| Cafeteria Nipponica SP | Apr 13, 2017 |
| Jumbo Airport Story | Sep 26, 2022 |
| Pocket Academy 3 | Aug 16, 2022 |
| Convenience Stories | Mar 28, 2022 |
| Forest Golf Planner | Feb 20, 2022 |
| Dungeon Village 2 | Mar 9, 2021 |
| Social Dev Story | Apr 22, 2019 |
| Pocket Arcade Story DX | Mar 26, 2019 |
| Kairo Land | Feb 21, 2018 |
| Wild Park Manager | Jul 12, 2017 |
| Shiny Ski Resort | Apr 7, 2017 |
| 8-Bit Farm | Feb 2, 2017 |
| Magician's Saga | Jan 13, 2017 |
| Thrift Store Story | Sep 29, 2016 |
| Pocket Arcade Story | Jun 24, 2016 |
| Tennis Club Story | Feb 2, 2016 |
| Fish Pond Park | Apr 27, 2015 |
| Anime Studio Story | Feb 2, 2015 |
| Biz Builder Delux | Dec 25, 2014 |
| Kairo Club | Feb 9, 2015 |
| Magazine Mogul | May 6, 2014 |
| Pocket Stables Lite | Aug 20, 2014 |
| Ninja Village | Mar 24, 2013 |
| Pocket Stables | Feb 21, 2013 |
| The Pyraplex | Dec 13, 2012 |
| Venture Towns | Sep 7, 2012 |
| Kairobotica | Aug 2, 2012 |
| Oh!Edo Towns | Jul 25, 2012 |
| Cafeteria Nipponica | Apr 4, 2012 |
| Mega Mall Story | Dec 29, 2011 |
| Epic Astro Story | Dec 16, 2011 |
| World Cruise Story | Nov 15, 2011 |
| Hot Springs Story | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Zoo Park Story | May 21, 2023 |
| Dream Town Island | Jun 1, 2023 |
| Cafe Master Story | Jun 26, 2023 |
Computer games available in English
| Game Name | Platform | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Pool Slide Story | PS4 | [9] |
| Piko Piko! Game Expo | Windows 10 | |
| Prestigious Pocket Academy | Windows 7 | |
| Prestigious Pocket Academy 2 | Windows 7 | |
| Royal Gallery Academy | Windows Vista | |
| World Cruise Story | Windows 10 |
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
- Brown, Mark (August 5, 2011). "Kairosoft: Game Dev Story's game dev story". Wired. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- Jordan, Jon (February 26, 2012). "The PocketGamer.biz top 50 developers of 2012: 30 to 21". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- 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.
- "This Week's Japanese Game Releases". Gematsu. Retrieved July 10, 2020.