If you're into Japanese cinema or anime, then you've probably heard of Toei, one of the country's longest-standing entertainment companies.
At least here in the West, Toei is perhaps best known for its animation studios, gathered under the banner of Toei Animation. Over its 80-ish year history, the company's produced world-beating adaptations like Dragon Ball, One Piece, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!... The list is insanely long.
And now, Toei's about to expand its business into the world of video games — a move that's sure to have an impact on the Japanese industry.
The juggernaut has just announced its own publishing arm, suitably named Toei Games. To start with, it's going to focus on releasing titles for PC via Steam, but it has plans to support consoles once it's found its footing.
When we first saw this news, our minds immediately went to the aforementioned anime properties. Could Toei end up in direct competition with something like Bandai Namco when it comes to handling the Dragon Ball license, for example?
But no, it sounds like Toei's actually looking to blaze its own trail. Although it's not quite ready to announce any of the projects right now, the company's initial statement emphasises "entirely new IPs".
Said statement reads: "Toei Games aims to create entirely new IPs from scratch, rather than simply utilizing existing IPs. We will leverage the technology and expertise we have cultivated through video production into our new game business, delivering Toei’s unique entertainment experience to players around the world."
Toei says it's going to work with both Japanese and global developers, in a bid to establish Toei Games as the company's "new pillar" alongside its other entertainment businesses.
It'll be really interesting to see if Toei hits the ground running. Plenty of Japanese publishers are doing incredibly well for themselves right now — Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Konami all spring to mind — but that doesn't mean gaming is an easy industry to crack, even if you've got the financial backing to give it a good shot.
What do you think of a company like Toei wading into the gaming space? Make some waves in the comments section below.