Ruby Party

Ruby Party (ルビーパーティー, Rubī Pātī) is the Japanese brand name of Koei Tecmo Holdings' women-based game development team.[2] The team was established around 1990 by Keiko Erikawa.

Ruby Party
Native name
ルビーパーティー
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
Founded1990 (1990)
FounderKeiko Erikawa
Headquarters
Yokohama, Kanagawa
,
Japan
Key people
Mei Erikawa (president)
Tōru Ogawa (Deputy Brand manager)[1]
ProductsAngelique series
ParentKoei (1990–2009)
Koei Tecmo (2009–present)

The team has mainly been producing the Neo Romance series, a series of otome games aimed at women. The first title released in this series is Angelique, released in 1994, and which is known as the first otome game in the world.[3]

History

In around 1985, Erikawa was developing various games with her husband Yōichi Erikawa. But the games in those days were all targeted to males. Erikawa thought it was strange that games aimed at women did not exist. There were almost no female staff in Koei at that point. Therefore, she started to recruit women as staff members, leading to an all-female development group within Koei, forming the Ruby Party team.[4][3][5]

The first product of this team was the game Angelique in 1994. However, the team Ruby Party did not develop the game by itself. Yōichi Erikawa and his mainly male developing staff at Koei helped with the completion of Angelique.[4][3]

In an 2018 Interview with Vice, Ruby Party president Mei Erikawa mentioned that, initially, there was strong resistance within Koei to develop a video game specifically marketed toward women, however Keiko Erikawa was firm in her belief that there's an untapped market, citing that "there are just as many women in the world as men". As at the time there weren't many female gamers, Keiko Erikawa also began experimenting with mixed-media, planning drama CDs and manga along the video game, instead of just magazine and TV advertisements, which were common at the time. Although it was not an immediate huge success, the mixed-media approach lent to Angelique gaining massive popularity after its release.[6]

After the release of Angelique, Ruby Party has developed many otome games and planned various related projects such as OVAs, drama CDs, music CDs, anime, and live events. Ruby Party has since become one of the most influential developers of otome game visual novels and dating sims, as the Angelique series pioneered the otome game genre.[7]

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de had become a major hit for Ruby Party, spawning multiple sequels and an anime television series. 2003's La Corda d'Oro had also become an international success for Ruby Party, also spawning multiple anime adaptions and sequels.[8] A manga series based on it was picked up by Viz for English language publishing.

In 2021, Ruby Party released Buddy Mission Bond, published by Nintendo.[9] They were approached by Nintendo during the development of the Nintendo Switch, who where looking to diversify the line-up of games for their upcoming video game console. The project was greenlit by Nintendo in 2016. At the time, Buddy Mission Bond was intended to be a traditional Ruby Party otome game, however during the game's development, the scale of the project continuously grew, until it went beyond its initial goal.[10] Unlike Ruby Party's usual output, Buddy Mission Bond aimed for a wider appeal. Mei Erikawa said that it was a collaborative effort with Nintendo, as it wasn't an otome game, citing their inspiration to be shounen manga, and that the development was challenge for the team, which had never worked in that genre before.[11]

Name

"Ruby Party" was named after the fact that the jewel ruby is considered to be the queen of jewelry, and it symbolizes passion and genuine love.[12]

Products

Neo Romance series
  • Angelique series
  • Harukanaru Toki no Naka de series (Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time)
  • Kin'iro no Corda series (La Corda d'Oro)
  • Neo Angelique series
  • Geten no Hana (下天の華), [13](2012, PlayStation Portable)
  • Miss Princess, Mispri (MISS PRINCESS ミスプリ！), [14][15][16](2011, Nintendo DS) - Based on a manga from Nakayoshi
  • Love phi Summit (ラブφサミット),[17]　(2010, mobile) - A cell phone game novel from the CWS Brains Ikebukuro Otome Kei service, defunct as of September 30, 2013.[18] A side story was released as a light novel on October 15, 2010 by B's LOG Bunko. ISBN 978-4047268432 A manga version ran in Comic B's LOG Kyun alongside Neoromance title Sengoku Angelique.[19] A Sapporo-exclusive anime was broadcast from November 27 to December 24, 2009, featuring theme song "Day by Day" by visual kei band D.

Other games

Notes and references
  1. (ja) Koei staff 2016 (retrieved 17 April 2022)
  2. (ja) Ruby Party Brand Koei website (retrieved 17 April 2022.
  3. (ja) Interview to Shibuya Ko and Keiko Erikawa (retrieved 25 February 2022)
  4. (ja) Interview to Keiko Erikawa, 2015 (retrieved 17 April 2022)
  5. "【インタビュー】ときめきに大切なのは「恋愛の過程」――ルビーパーティーブランド長・襟川芽衣氏と乙女ゲーム談義☆前編" (in Japanese). B's LOG. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  6. Lee, Anne (September 20, 2018). "How the Creators of the Otome Genre Bring Romance to Modern Audiences". Waypoint by Vice. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  7. "17年ぶりに新作『アンジェリーク』制作決定。第三の宇宙を舞台に新たなイラストレーター・キャストで展開 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com". Famitsu.com. 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  8. 金色のコルダ2 [La Corda d'Oro 2] (in Japanese). Koei. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  9. "任天堂×コーエーテクモ『バディミッション BOND』の公式Twitterが開設。開発のルビーパーティーが運営を担当" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  10. "Buddy Mission Bond Developer Interviews". Nintendo Dream Web (in Japanese). Ambit Co., Ltd. April 18, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  11. Madnani, Mikhail (May 17, 2022). "Ruby Party Interview: Mei Erikawa of Koei Tecmo on Touken Ranbu Warriors, the Otome Industry, Buddy Mission BOND, and More". The Mako Reactor. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  12. (ja) Origin of the name "Ruby Party" (retrieved 17 April 2022
  13. "ルビー・パーティーによる新たな女性向け恋愛ADV「下天の華」のティザームービーが公開に。織田信長といった武将達と，忍（くノ一）の恋を描く" (in Japanese). 4Gamer. 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  14. "なかよしで連載中のコミック「MISS PRINCESS ミスプリ！」のゲーム化が決定。制作はネオロマンスシリーズでおなじみのルビー・パーティー" (in Japanese). 4Gamer. 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  15. "●なかよしの人気コミック、ニンテンドーDSで登場" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  16. "『ミスプリ！』新たなCGを掲載、ボイスキャストの一部も公開" (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  17. "札幌限定でネオロマンスゲームノベル『ラブφサミット』をアニメ配信" (in Japanese). Animate Times. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  18. "「ラブφサミット」は2013年9月30日をもちまして、サービスを終了いたしました。" (in Japanese). Ruby Party. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  19. "『戦国アンジェリーク』『ラブφサミット』ネオロマンス ２大新連載" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  20. "ルビー・パーティーの新作「FabStyle」は襟川恵子氏がトータルプロデュース。完成披露会には佐々木希さんやミッツ・マングローブさんらがゲスト出演" (in Japanese). 4Gamer. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  21. "ルビー・パーティー開発の新作「FabStyle」がNDS/3DSに向けて11月24日に発売。おしゃれに仕事に恋にと"最高の生き方"を追求しよう" (in Japanese). 4Gamer. 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  22. "「進撃の巨人」が脱出アドベンチャーに。3DS「進撃の巨人 死地からの脱出」がコーエーテクモから発売決定，ルビーパーティーが開発を担当" (in Japanese). 4Gamer. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  23. "『刀剣乱舞無双』開発陣インタビュー。アクションゲームという形になったからこそできる表現が実現！" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  24. "「刀剣乱舞」と「無双」シリーズによる究極のコラボが実現！アクションゲーム「刀剣乱舞無双」がSwitch/PC向けに発表 ω-Forceとルビーパーティーがタッグを組んで開発" (in Japanese). Gamer. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  25. "「刀剣乱舞」と「無双」シリーズによる究極のコラボレーションが実現！ アクションゲーム『刀剣乱舞無双』がDMM GAMESより発売決定" (in Japanese). B's LOG. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
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