Mages (company)

Mages Inc. (株式会社メージス, Kabushiki gaisha Mējisu, stylized "MAGES.inc"), formerly 5pb. Inc. (株式会社5pb., Kabushiki gaisha 5pb., short for "The Five powered & basics"), is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music. It was formed on April 6, 2005[1] after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he still holds. The company is divided into two parts, 5pb. Games for the manufacturing of video games, and 5pb. Records for the record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the TYO Group until Shikura purchased the remaining rights from the TYO Group on April 15, 2009.[2] Shikura co-owns 5pb. with AGOne, an affiliate of Dwango Japan.[3] Staff members include scenario writer Naotaka Hayashi, artist Yukihiro Matsuo, and producer Tatsuya Matsuhara.

Mages Inc.
Native name
株式会社メージス
Kabushiki gaisha Mējisu
Formerly
5pb. Inc. (2005–2011)
Industry
FoundedApril 6, 2005 (2005-04-06)
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Headquarters
Shibuya, Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
Chiyomaru Shikura (Representative Director and President)
Parent
  • Dwango (2013–2019)
  • Chiyomaru Studio (2019–2020)
  • Colopl (2020–)
Websitemages.co.jp
Former logo

In April 2011, a group of companies consisting of Arkray, Seed Project, Dwango Creative School, Animelo Summer Life, 5pb. Records, and 5pb. Games merged under the parent company Mages. Inc. led by executive director Chiyomaru Shikura.[4] In July 2019, Mages was acquired by Shikura's concept studio Chiyomaru Studio, with the goal of being more flexible and fast in its decisions as a company independent from their parent company Dwango and from the Kadokawa group. With that said, while Mages will no longer be a part of Kadokawa Group following the management buyout, it still expects to maintain the same favorable relationship with the Group that it has so far. Along with this buyout, the company intends to strengthen its branding by consolidating the 5pb. brand into Mages.[5]

In March 2020, Colopl acquired Mages from Chiyomaru Studio for ¥1.612 billion (approximately US$14.92 million).[6]

Artists

Previously called 5pb. Records, since 2019 the brand does not exist anymore, with the Mages brand being the only one used for everything.

Games

5pb. Games was a division of Mages, which dealt with video game development. The brand was originally named Five Games Kid, or 5gk. for short, but the name was changed in December 2007 to coincide with the name of 5pb.'s record label 5pb. Records. Some of 5pb. Games' developers arrived from KID, Tonkin House and Scitron, such as with Takeshi Abo in December 2006. Since 2019, the 5pb. Games brand is not used anymore, with the Mages brand being the only one used for everything.

Year[lower-alpha 1] Title Platform(s)
2007 Que: Fairy of Ancient Leaf PS2
Memories Off 5: Encore PS2, PSP
Umishō PS2
2008 Your Memories Off: Girl's Style PS2, PSP
Night Wizard! The Video Game: Denial of the World PS2
Prism Ark: Awake PS2
Chaos;Head Win
Memories Off PSP
Memories Off 2nd PSP
Ghost Hound DS NDS
Kanokon Esuii PS2
L no Kisetsu 2: Invisible Memories PS2
Memories Off: Sorekara PSP
Omoide ni Kanata Kimi: Memories Off PSP
Memories Off 6: T-wave PS2, iOS, PSP, X360
Monochrome Factor: Cross Road PS2
2009 Memories Off 5: Togireta Film PSP
Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai PS3, PS Vita, Win
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label Extra X360
Kemeko Deluxe! DS: Yome to Mecha to Otoko to Onna NDS
KimokawaE! NDS
11eyes CrossOver X360, PSP, iOS
Chaos;Head Noah X360, PS3, PSP, iOS, Android
Hakushaku to Yōsei: Yume to Kizuna ni Omoi o Hasete PS2
Hyakko: Yorozuya Jikenbo! PS2
Skip Beat! PS2
Memories Off After Rain PSP
Lucian Bee's: Resurrection Supernova PS2
Memories Off 6: Next Relation PS2, X360, PSP
Item Getter: Bokura no Kagaku to Mahō no Kankei NDS
Steins;Gate X360, PS3, PS4, Win, PSP, iOS, PS Vita, Android
Taishō Baseball Girls PSP
L no Kisetsu W pocket PSP
Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity X360
2010 Chaos;Head Love Chu Chu! X360, PS3, PSP
Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi Extra X360
Lucian Bee's: Evil Violet PS2, PSP
Lucian Bee's: Justice Yellow PS2, PSP
W.L.O. Sekai Renai Kikō X360
Memories Off: Yubikiri no Kioku X360
Corpse Party: Blood Covered Repeated Fear PSP, iOS, 3DS
Sharin no Kuni: The Girl Among the Sunflowers X360
Lucian Bee's: Resurrection Supernova PSP
Pastel Chime Continue PSP
2011 Bullet Soul X360
Memories Off: Yubikiri no Kioku Win, PSP
Phantom Breaker X360, PS3
Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace X360, PS3, PSP, PS Vita
Dunamis 15 X360, PS3
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows PSP
Steins;Gate: Variant Space Octet Win
Muv-Luv X360
Muv-Luv Alternative X360
Ever 17 X360
Beyond the Future: Fix the Time Arrows PS3, PSP
2012 Robotics;Notes PS3, X360
Corpse Party: Sachiko’s Game of Love Hysteric Birthday 2U PSP
Bravely Default[lower-alpha 2] 3DS
2013 Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds X360, PS Vita, Win
Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram PS3, X360, PS Vita, iOS
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san Meijoshigatai Game no Yona Mono PS Vita
Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi Extra PS3
Disorder 6 PS3, X360
Phantom Breaker: Extra PS3, X360
Hero X Battle Princess PS3
Eiyuu*Senki PS3
Liberation Maiden Sin PS3
2014 Bullet Soul Infinite Burst X360
Corpse Party: Blood Drive PS Vita
Robotics;Notes Elite PS Vita
Chaos;Child[7] XBO, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, iOS, Win
Infinite Stratos: Versus Colors Win
2015 Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness PS4, PS Vita, Win, XBO
Steins;Gate 0[8] PS3, PS4, PS Vita, XBO, Win, NS
2016 Plastic Memories[9] PS Vita
2017 New Game! The Challenge Stage[10] PS4, PS Vita
Occultic;Nine[11] PS4, PS Vita, XBO
Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!! PS4, PS Vita
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive NS
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World PS4, PS Vita, NS
2018 Steins;Gate Elite PS4, Win, PS Vita, NS
2019 Robotics;Notes DaSH PS4, NS, Win
2020 Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha Remake NS
Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo Remake NS
TBA Anonymous;Code[12] PS4, PS Vita, NS

Chiyomaru Studio
Chiyo St. Inc.
Chiyomaru Studio
Native name
千代丸スタジオ
Chiyomaru Sutajio
Formerly
Chrome Edge
Industryvideo game industry 
Headquarters
Minato 
,
Japan 
Key people
Chiyomaru Shikura
Products
SubsidiariesMages (2019–2020)
Websitechiyomaru-studio.com

Chiyo St. Inc., doing business as Chiyomaru Studio (Japanese: 千代丸スタジオ, Hepburn: Chiyomaru Sutajio), is a multimedia concept studio led by Chiyomaru Shikura,[13] the representative director and president of Mages.[14] The company, which was originally named Chrome Edge (クロウムエッジ, Kuroumu Ejji), was founded separately from Mages for the purpose of managing the copyrights to the media projects Shikura works on, including the Science Adventure franchise and the Occultic;Nine novel series, and for creating stories for use in various media.[13] In July 2019, Chiyomaru Studio made a management buyout of Mages, acquiring all shares held by its former parent company Dwango;[5] the following year, Chiyomaru Studio sold all Mages shares to Colopl.[6]

While the concept work is done by Chiyomaru Studio, they work together with Mages to develop video games using the concepts, and with Kadokawa Corporation to print books and produce anime and manga.[13] The studio includes staff members from Mages, who communicate through instant messaging; as of 2015, Shikura was the only on-site staff.[15]

The first new intellectual property developed by Chiyomaru Studio, not based on Shikura's previous works, is the upcoming video game Anonymous;Code, which is developed together with Mages' video games division 5pb. Games,[16][17] and is together with Occultic;Nine part of a media franchise referred to internally as Science Visual Novel.[18][19] Chiyomaru Studio has also developed the Science Adventure game Robotics;Notes DaSH.[20] Since 2017, the studio organizes live music events where they also release updates on their media projects, called "Chiyo-ST Live".[21][22]

Notes
  1. Initial release
  2. Scenario
gollark: Metaprogramming is where you make Lisp but it's worse.
gollark: What about dale?
gollark: The C preprocessor was invented after a parenthesis shortage prevented proper macros from being implemented.
gollark: If you have unused items, you are just lacking final-product production.
gollark: Fear, increasingly, Minoteaur!

References
  1. "5pb. company information" (in Japanese). 5pb. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  2. 弊社株式の異動（譲渡）に関するお知らせ [Concerning Our Company Stock Change (Transfer) Notification] (in Japanese). 5pb. 2009-04-15. Archived from the original on 2009-08-10. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
  3. "Outline - Corporate" (in Japanese). Dwango. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  4. "Visual Novel Publisher 5pb Becomes Mages, 5pb Director Is Head Of The Company". Siliconera. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  5. Romano, Sal (2019-07-26). "Mages goes independent from Kadokawa Group, 5pb. to consolidate into Mages". Gematsu. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  6. Romano, Sal (2020-03-30). "Colopl acquires Mages". Gematsu. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  7. "Chaos;Child PlayStation versions and anime confirmed". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  8. "Steins;Gate 0 announced". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  9. "5pb. announces Plastic Memories game". Gematsu. April 19, 2016. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  10. "First Screens Of New Game! The Challenge Stage! Show Aoba, Hifumi, Kou, And Shizuku". Siliconera. July 20, 2016. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  11. "Occultic;Nine game announced". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  12. "5pb. announces Anonymous;Code". Gematsu. March 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  13. 『シュタインズ・ゲート』新作など千代丸スタジオが贈る新作タイトルについて志倉千代丸氏へ独占インタビュー(1/2). Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2015-03-28. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  14. "Mages.Inc.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  15. Fushimachi, Yuzuru (2015-03-30). "志倉千代丸「ADVをゲームとは思ってない」…その真意と「CHIYOMARU STUDIO」の正体とは". Inside Games (in Japanese). IID, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  16. "Anonymous;Code Visual Novel's 1st 2 Characters Revealed". Anime News Network. 2016-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  17. Ishaan (2015-03-29). "Anonymous;Code Is 5pb's Next Sci-Fi Visual Novel". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  18. Token (2016-07-03). "【5pb.祭り2016】「ANONYMOUS;CODE」ステージでは"セーブ＆ロード"を用いる新システム「ハッキングトリガー」が明らかに！". Gamer (in Japanese). Ixll Co. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  19. "本作のトリガーは"ハッキングトリガー"！？ 『アノニマス・コード』の見どころについて志倉千代丸氏が語る【5pb.祭り2016】". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2016-07-03. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  20. "東京ゲームショウ2017にて『ロボティクス・ノーツ ダッシュ』の映像が公開【TGS2017】". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2017-09-21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  21. 『シュタインズ・ゲート』と『ロボティクス・ノーツ』の新作などが発表――ライブイベント“チヨスタライブ”での発表内容をお届け！. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. May 28, 2017. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  22. "おなじみの楽曲から一夜限りのスペシャルコラボまで！ 濃密過ぎる3時間!! "科学アドベンチャーライブ2018-SINGULARITY-"リポート". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
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