is a Japanese

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

based in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

. The company was founded in October 1998 by

Akihiro Hino (born July 20, 1968) is a Japanese video game designer and businessman. Starting his career as a programmer in the 1990s, he later took on roles in writing, design, directing and producing. He founded Level-5 (company), Level-5 in 1998 and rema ...

after he departed from

Riverhillsoft was a Japanese video game manufacturer in operation from 1982 to 2004. The studio focused in the 1980s developing games for Japanese home computers, in the 1990s shifted to console game development, and in the 2000s to mobile games. They also pu ...

. Level-5 is known for their ''

Professor Layton ''Professor Layton'' is a puzzle adventure video game series and transmedia franchise developed by Level-5. The property consists primarily of seven main video games, a mobile spin-off, an animated theatrical film, and an anime television serie ...

'', ''

Inazuma Eleven is an association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football ...

'', ''

Ni no Kuni ''Ni no Kuni'' is a series of role-playing video games developed and published in Japan by Level-5; Bandai Namco publishes the games outside Japan. The first games in the series chiefly follow the young Oliver, and his journey to another wor ...

'', ''

Yo-kai Watch is a Japanese role-playing video game series and associated media franchise created and developed by Level-5. The first game in the series was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Three main sequels and several spinoffs, on both Nintendo a ...

'', ''

Snack World is a Japanese multimedia franchise created and developed by Level-5. It consists of video games, manga adaptations, a CGI anime series, and a toy line by Takara Tomy. Overview ''Snack World'' is a multimedia franchise created by Level-5 ...

'', and ''

Megaton Musashi is a Japanese multimedia franchise by Level-5. An action role-playing video game was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, in November 2021. A Free-to-play version, was released on December 1, 2022, and ...

'' franchises.

History

Level-5 was established in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino and his development team at

, following the release of ''

OverBlood 2 is an action-adventure video game developed by Riverhillsoft for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to the game ''OverBlood'', released on the same platform. The game was published in Japan by Riverhillsoft on July 23, 1998, while a European versi ...

''. Since Hino did not originally believe that his team could become an independent developer, he formed a partnership with

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

, who would allow him to develop for their upcoming

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

under the condition that he set up his own company. The name, "Level-5", was a reference to Japanese school report cards, where "Level-5" is the highest possible mark. Soon after being created, the company had eleven employees. Level-5's first full-scale production was the

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...

Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a launch title for the system in March 2000, the game was eventually released in Japan in Dec ...

'', developed under contract by Sony Computer Entertainment. Intended to be a launch game for the Japanese release of the PlayStation 2, it was delayed before the console's launch in March 2000 to allow further development, eventually being released in Japan in December 2000, and worldwide in 2001. Work immediately began on a sequel titled '' Dark Chronicle'', released as ''Dark Cloud 2'' in North America. The company was working with

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

on an

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

, '' True Fantasy Live Online'', before it was cancelled in 2004.

Yasumi Matsuno is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcade game, arcades while waiting for the train, and first played ''Space Invaders'' and ''Xevious'' there. He attended Hosei University for foreign ...

, director of ''

Vagrant Story is a 2000 action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. The game has been re-released by Square Enix through the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita consoles. '' ...

'', ''

Final Fantasy Tactics is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. It was released in Japan in June 1997 and in North America in January 1998 by Sony Computer Enterta ...

'', and the ''

Ogre Battle is a series of five tactical role-playing and real-time strategy video games developed by Quest Corporation and is currently owned by Square Enix through Square's acquisition of Quest. There are five main games in the series, starting with the ...

'' series, briefly joined Level-5 in June 2011, and left the company after completing work on '' Crimson Shroud'' for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

. By the early 2010s, Level-5 was one of the ten largest video game companies in Japan, holding a market share of 3.2%. In October 2015, Level-5 founded a spin-off company in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, in cooperation with

Dentsu , simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in ...

, called Level-5 Abby. In October 2020, it was reported that the company's North American operations, including Level-5 Abby, were shutting down due to low sales. The same month, Level 5 launched a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

publishing platform called "Manga 5".

Roid service

In 2009, Level-5 launched its Roid (Revolutionary Original Ideas Discovery) service, a mobile phone application that serves as a content delivery platform for mobile games. It is only compatible with NTT DoCoMo's

i-mode i-mode (, ) is a Japanese mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service operated by NTT DoCoMo. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and ...

mobile internet service in Japan. Users pay a monthly fee for access to exclusive games and social game functions. The platform debuted with six games: ''Sloan and McHale's Mystery Story'', ''Professor Layton and the Mansion of the Mirror of Death Remix'', ''Chara Jo P'', ''Yuuenchi wo Tsukurō Revolution'', ''Treasure Island'', and ''Elf the Dragon''. The first three were developed by Level-5, while the last three were developed by outside companies.

List of games

''All games were developed and/or published by Level-5 unless otherwise noted''

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game publishers Companies based in Fukuoka Video game companies established in 1998 Privately held companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1998