Yo-kai Watch dev Level-5 acquires Keiji Inafune's Comcept
The first fruit of this merger will be an iOS and Android title called Dragon Colonies
According to the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, as translated by Gematsu, Japanese studio Level-5 (Ni no Kuni, Yo-Kai Watch) has acquired Comcept, the Keiji Inafune-led studio behind Mighty No.9 and that more recently teamed up with Armature on Xbox exclusive ReCore. Comcept has now become a subsidiary known as Level-5 Comcept but Inafune and Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino both see it more as a merger where the philosophies of both companies have come together.
Inafune praised Level-5, noting: "I had the feeling that I wanted to be like Hino since around the time I was at Capcom." Both companies have wanted to do something together since working on Guild 02. Level-5 Comcept is based in Osaka, Japan and is currently staffed with 15 people, but the studio is recruiting to bring in new talent apart from the veteran Comcept team.
The translation notes that the studio wants to "make games that show they're in the league with Inafune." The first title will be an iOS and Android game called Dragon Colonies, which is due out in Japan in 2018. The game features magic beings and creatures in addition to humans and players are tasked with building up the strongest "Halocolony."
Infanue did confirm that while the plan is to shutter the old Comcept, he won't abandon any of the current projects in development.