Valhalla Game Studios

Japanese-Canadian video game developer

Valhalla Game Studios International

Formerly| Valhalla Game Studios Co., Ltd. (2008–2014)
Company type| Subsidiary
Industry| Video games
Founded| 2008
(as Valhalla Game Studios)
November 26, 2014
(as Valhalla Game Studios International)
Defunct| December 2021
Fate| Merged into Soleil, Ltd.
Headquarters| Vancouver, Canada
Tokyo, Japan
(VGS Japan)

Key people

| Satoshi Kanematsu
(CEO)
Parent| Wake Up Interactive
Subsidiaries| Valhalla Game Studios, Ltd. (VGS Japan)
Valhalla Seven Ltd.
Valhalla Networks Ltd.
EIN Entertainment Ltd.
Soleil Ltd.
Website| Valhalla Game Studios International
VGS Japan

Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd.[a] was a video game development, entertainment and holding company.

It was founded in 2008 as Valhalla Game Studios Co., Ltd.[b] in Tokyo, Japan. An international division was later founded in British Columbia, Canada, which acquired all intellectual property and shares of the original Valhalla Game Studios and other affiliates, effectively making them subsidiaries of the Canadian company. To differentiate, the original Valhalla Game Studios is alternatively referred to as VGS Japan. VGS Japan is best known for Devil's Third, their flagship title which went through a long development cycle.

Valhalla's parent company, Wake Up Interactive, was acquired by Tencent for $44 million in November 2021.[1] The following month, Wake Up merged the staff and operations of Valhalla Game Studios into another subsidiary, Soleil Ltd., effectively closing down Valhalla.[2]

## Staff

[edit]

The studio is run by former Tecmo staff: Satoshi Kanematsu, who worked on Monster Rancher and Rygar, and Tomonobu Itagaki, a game designer known for his work on the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series.

## List of games developed by VGS Japan

[edit]

Title  | Publisher  | Platform  | Release  | Additional details

|
|
|
|

Devil's Third | Nintendo | Wii U | 2015  | Former Development co-operation for Nintendo SPD
Devil's Third Online | Nexon | PC  | 2016[3] | —
Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!![4] | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | 2016  | —

## Projects

[edit]

Since 2009,[5] the company had been working on Devil's Third, a "hyper-violent shooter".[6] Originally developed as a title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game was eventually developed exclusively for the Wii U. Following the closure of development partner THQ, intellectual property rights to Devil's Third were given back to Valhalla Game Studios.[7] The game was re-announced by Nintendo at E3 2014; the title released in 2015. It received "generally unfavorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[8] In November 2015, it was announced that Valhalla and Nexon would be releasing Devil's Third Online, a PC port of Devil's Third's multiplayer mode, as part of a partnership.[9] The title would go into open beta in December in Japan and would release in the same region in late January. It was confirmed that features that were absent in the original, such as voice chat, would be added to Devil's Third Online.[10] After a delay, the title released in Japan on June 8, 2016.[3]

## Litigation

[edit]

In November 2015, it was reported that Valhalla Motion Pictures was suing Valhalla Game Studios for trademark infringement, likely due to their similar name and logo.[11]

On March 24, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied Valhalla Game Studios' trademark registration on the grounds that there was likelihood of confusion between Valhalla Motion Pictures and Valhalla Games Studios' mark.[12]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Japanese: ヴァルハラゲームスタジオインターナショナルリミテッド
2. ^ Japanese: 株式会社ヴァルハラゲームスタジオ

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Kerr, Chris (November 11, 2021). "Report: Tencent acquires Japanese studio Wake Up for $44 million". Game Developer. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
2. ^ Romano, Sal (December 23, 2021). "Soleil absorbs Valhalla Game Studios". Gematsu. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
3. ^ a b "PC格闘シューター『Devil's Third Online』" (in Japanese). NEXON. June 3, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
4. ^ "桃太郎電鉄2017 たちあがれ日本!!" (in Japanese). Nintendo Co., Ltd. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
5. ^ "History". Valhalla Game Studios International Ltd. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
6. ^ McWhertor, Michael (November 6, 2010). "Ninja Gaiden Creators Reveal Devil's Third, The Bloody New Shooter From Valhalla". Kotaku.
7. ^ Purchese, Robert (July 4, 2012). "Devil's Third rights returned to Itagaki and Valhalla Game Studios". Eurogamer.
8. ^ "Devil's Third". Metacritic. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
9. ^ "Devil's Third Online Officially Announced For PC". Siliconera. November 6, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
10. ^ "Devil's Third Online Launches In Japan In January, Adds Voice Chat, PvE, And More". Siliconera. November 12, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
11. ^ Vogel, Mitch (November 10, 2015). "Valhalla Game Studios is Being Sued Over a Trademark Dispute". Nintendo Life (published November 9, 2015). Retrieved March 29, 2018.
12. ^ "United States Patent and Trademark Office Opposition No. 91206662" (PDF). March 24, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2018.

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