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Level-5 Osaka Office

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This article is about the Japanese video game developer. For the Portuguese association, see COMCEPT.
Level-5 Osaka Office
Native name
株式会社レベルファイブ 大阪オフィス
Kabushiki gaisha reberufaibu Ōsaka ofisu
Company typeDivision
IndustryVideo games
PredecessorLevel-5 Comcept
FoundedDecember 1, 2010 (Comcept, Inc.)
March 3, 2025 (Level-5 Osaka Office)
FounderKeiji Inafune
DefunctApril 30, 2025 (Level-5 Comcept)
FateMerged (Level-5 Comcept)
HeadquartersUmeda,
Kita-ku, Osaka
,
Japan
Products
Number of employees
15 (as of June 2017)[1]
ParentLevel-5
Websitewww.level5.co.jp/level5comcept/

Level-5 Osaka Office is a Japanese video game developer and division of Level-5 based in Osaka. It is the successor to Level-5 Comcept, originally founded as Comcept, Inc. by former Capcom designer Keiji Inafune on December 1, 2010 as an independent company. As Comcept, their works included Soul Sacrifice, Mighty No. 9, ReCore and Red Ash: The Indelible Legend. In addition to games on handheld and home consoles, Comcept (and Level-5 Comcept) also developed multiple mobile games. The company was acquired by Level-5 in 2017 and became a subsidiary.[2]

Inafune left Level-5 in 2024. Several months later, on March 3, 2025, the company created the Osaka Office in the Level-5 Comcept office.[3] However, Level-5 Comcept continued to exist for a short time before being dissolved at the end of April and merged into the Osaka Office.

History

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Founding

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Logo as Comcept

Keiji Inafune founded Comcept after his departure from Capcom in December 2010.[4][5] After the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, which he mentioned as a "long-time held dream",[6] he thought that "not only had he abandoned himself, but the fans too".

Comcept functioned as a design and production studio which paired up with other studios to develop games.[7] This often included working on multiple games at once, and doing a variety of genres instead of being narrowly focused.[7]

Comcept's first game was the free to play smartphone title, The Island of Dr. Momo. The game had micro-transactions, and was released through the GREE platform.[8] They also developed another mobile game, J.J. Rockets.[9]

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

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Main article: Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

In September 2012, the team's next project was revealed as a new Ninja Gaiden title, named Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z.[10] The game is a collaboration between Comcept, Team Ninja, and American developer Spark Unlimited.[11] When announcing the game, Inafune said: "I’m very happy to stand here next to Mr. [Yosuke] Hayashi today, and we’ll prove to you that we are going to survive and make good games that will lead the Japanese game industry."[12]

The game was released in March 2014 to a largely negative reception, with Metacritic giving it a score of 43.[13] GamesRadar included it in their list of "the 50 worst games of all time".[14]

Kaio: King of Pirates

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Main article: Kaio: King of Pirates

In 2012, Comcept and Intercept (another game developer founded by Inafune) began work on Kaio: King of Pirates (海王, Kaiō), which was to be published by Marvelous. It was set for release on the Nintendo 3DS.[15] Using a pirate setting, the plot was a retelling of the Chinese story Romance of the Three Kingdoms.[16] Marvelous cancelled the game in 2015, and reported a loss of ¥461 million (roughly $3.8 million USD) on the project.[17]

Soul Sacrifice

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In 2013, Comcept assisted Sony Computer Entertainment and its Japan Studio in designing the PlayStation Vita game Soul Sacrifice and the expansion, Soul Sacrifice Delta.[18]

Mighty No. 9

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Main article: Mighty No. 9

At PAX Prime 2013, Inafune held a special panel in order to reveal a brand new project called Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to the Mega Man series. At the end of the panel, Inafune officially launched the game's Kickstarter campaign.[19] He thought that Kickstarter would be "a great way to make dreams a reality". The game was developed jointly with Inti Creates (another studio founded by Capcom staff). After several delays, the game was released in 2016. It was met with a mixed critical reception for its level of quality and gameplay.[20][21]

Following the release of the game, Inafune stated: "You know, I want to word this in a way to explain some of the issues that come with trying to make a game of this size on multiple platforms." adding "I'm kind of loath to say this because it's going to sound like an excuse and I don't want to make any excuses. I own all the problems that came with this game and if you want to hurl insults at me, it's totally my fault. I'm the key creator. I will own that responsibility."[22][23] His translator, Ben Judd, followed up these remarks by giving his assessment of the project: "In this case, it was do the base game and do all the ports all at the same time. And it ended up being a huge amount of work, more than they actually estimated. Definitely, when they looked at the project, they were wrong about a lot of things. They underestimated how much work, time and money was going to be necessary. All of those things create a huge amount of pressure."[22] Later Judd added “But, again, we can hope that if things go well, there'll be sequels. Because I'll tell you what, I'm not getting my 2D side-scrolling fill. And at the end of the day, even if it's not perfect, it's better than nothing. At least, that's my opinion.”[24]

In 2017, Comcept licensed the Mighty No. 9 characters to Inti Creates, allowing them to feature the characters however they wished, free of charge, in their Nintendo Switch game Mighty Gunvolt Burst.[25]

Red Ash

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The logo of Red Ash: The Indelible Legend

Red Ash: The Indelible Legend[a] was announced as a spiritual successor to the Mega Man Legends series. Also funded via Kickstarter, the campaign ended with $519,999, well short of its $800,000 goal. It was later announced on July 30, 2015 that Chinese publisher Fuze would finance the game.[26]

The campaign for Red Ash was heavily criticized by game journalists and fans alike, describing it as rushed and poorly planned.[27][28]

A CGI short titled Red Ash: -Gearworld-, originally known as Red Ash: -Magicicada-,[29] was funded by a separate Kickstarter campaign handled by Studio 4°C, that was released to coincide with the game.[30][31] The short was released in March 2017 as part of the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2017 project.[32]

As of 2025, there have been no updates on Red Ash, and the project is presumed to be cancelled.

Level-5 era

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Logo as Level-5 Comcept

In 2017, Comcept was acquired by Level-5 and became Level-5 Comcept. The Tokyo office was closed, leaving the Osaka location as the sole base of operations.[33][34][2] Their first game under Level-5 was the mobile game Dragon & Colonies, launched in June 2019. The game was shut down on February 17, 2020.[35] It later provided development assistance for various later Level-5 games, such as Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y – Waiwai Gakuen Seikatsu and Megaton Musashi. On February 8, 2023, it was revealed Level-5 Comcept would handle the development of Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time.[36]

On March 3, 2025, Level-5 revealed on a blog post that Keiji Inafune had left the company in mid-2024, and Fantasy Life i would be undergoing a major overhaul to development following unfavorable feedback from playtesters. In the same post, the company also announced the creation of the new Osaka Office, based in Level-5 Comcept's offices, in order to take over the game's development.[37][38]

Level-5 Comcept was officially disbanded on April 30, 2025 and merged into Level-5 Osaka Office, following a shareholders meeting that day. The news was publicly revealed on May 15.[39]

Games developed

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Year Title Co-developer Platform(s) Note(s) Ref
2011 The Island of Dr. Momo Android, iOS Published via GREE
2011 JJ Rockets Marvelous AQL Android, iOS [9]
2012 Sweet Fuse: At Your Side Idea Factory PlayStation Portable
2013 Soul Sacrifice Marvelous AQL, Japan Studio PlayStation Vita
Guild02 – Bugs vs. Tanks! Level-5 Nintendo 3DS
2014 Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Soul Sacrifice Delta Marvelous AQL, Japan Studio PlayStation Vita
2016 Mighty No. 9 Inti Creates Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360, Xbox One Kickstarter; Vita and 3DS versions never completed
ReCore Armature Studio Windows, Xbox One
2018 Fantasy Life Online Level-5 Mobile phones
2019 Dragons & Colonies Mobile phones Launched in June 2019, temporarily taken offline from August to October and relaunched, shut down completely in February 2020
2020 Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y Level-5 Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
2021 Megaton Musashi Level-5 Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
2025 Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows [40]
2025 Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Level-5 And Animation By Mappa Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows

Notes

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  1. ^ Known in Japanese as Red Ash: The Witch of Mech-Armor Castle CalCannon (RED ASH機鎧城カルカノンの魔女, Reddo Asshu Kiganjō KaruKanon no Majo)

References

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  1. ^ Lemon, Marshall (June 14, 2017). "Level-5 acquires Mighty No. 9 dev Comcept". VG 247. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "株式会社レベルファイブ". 株式会社レベルファイブ (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "Announcement of New Osaka Office". Level 5 News. Archived from the original on March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  4. ^ "Keiji Inafune quits Capcom". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  5. ^ 社長のblogは11/1をもって公開終了いたしました。ご愛顧ありがとうございました。 : Archived October 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (September 23, 2007). "TGS '07: Mega Man celebrates 20th anniversary". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Leone, Matt (February 1, 2016). "Keiji Inafune looks back on five years of Comcept". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Feltham, Jamie (July 22, 2011). "Keiji Inafune Details New Game". IGN. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Ashcraft, Brian (August 3, 2011). "Top game designers going social". The Japan Times. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Richard (September 12, 2012). "Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z a partnership between Keiji Inafune's Comcept and Team Ninja [update: trailer!]". Joystiq. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  11. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (October 3, 2012). "Inafune, back to save Japan's gaming industry from death". The Japan Times. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  12. ^ Feit, Daniel. "Ninja Gaiden, Dead Rising Creators Team For Zombie-Filled Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z". WIRED. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  14. ^ "The 50 worst games of all time". gamesradar. Archived from the original on April 26, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  15. ^ Ray Corriea, Alexa (December 10, 2015). "Inafune's 3DS game Kaio: King of Pirates delayed to 2014". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  16. ^ Maiberg, Emanuel (March 14, 2015). "Mega Man Creator's Other 3DS Game Cancelled". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  17. ^ "Kaio: King of Pirates, Keiji Inafune's 3DS Title, Has Been Cancelled - Siliconera". Siliconera. March 13, 2015. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  18. ^ McWhertor, Michael (September 9, 2013). "Soul Sacrifice Delta coming to PlayStation Vita in 2014". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  19. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (August 31, 2013). "PAX: Mega Man Creator Announces Mighty No. 9". IGN. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  20. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (April 28, 2015). "Mighty No. 9 release delayed into early September, extra subtitle languages added". VG247. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  21. ^ "Video Game Raised $148 Million From Fans. Now It's Raising Concerns". Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (June 22, 2016). "Sonic sticks the boot in to Mighty No. 9 as Inafune admits: "I own all the problems"". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 16, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  23. ^ Orland, Kyle (June 22, 2016). "Amid Mighty No. 9's launch troubles, a lesson for us all". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  24. ^ "Mighty No. 9 pre-launch livestream: 'It's better than nothing' [Updated]". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  25. ^ "Mighty Gunvolt Burst for Switch launches June 15, for 3DS on June 29 - Gematsu". Gematsu. May 19, 2017. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  26. ^ Porter, Matt (July 30, 2015). "Red Ash: The KalKanon Incident Fully Funded by Fuze". IGN. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  27. ^ "Red Ash Kickstarter seems desperate, lets you vote for Mayor". Destructoid.com. July 19, 2015. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  28. ^ "Play the Red Ash prototype in your browser, though it is not fun". Destructoid.com. July 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  29. ^ "Red Ash -Magicicada- Undergoes a Name Change and More // The Mega Man Network". Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  30. ^ "Red Ash -Magicicada- by STUDIO4°C". Kickstarter. July 5, 2015. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  31. ^ "First Footage of Red Ash: Gearworld OVA". Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  32. ^ "Anime Tamago 2017 Shorts Previewed in Long 2nd Promo Video". Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  33. ^ Inafune, Keiji (June 6, 2016). "本作は，稲船敬二氏がCCOを務めるLEVEL5comcept". Level 5. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  34. ^ "Level-5 acquires Comcept, now Level-5 Comcept". Gematsu. June 13, 2017. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  35. ^ Inc, Aetas. "「ドラゴン＆コロニーズ」のサービスが2020年2月17日14：00をもってサービス終了". 4gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  36. ^ Romano, Sal. "FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time announced for Switch". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  37. ^ ""Harsh" Feedback Leads To Fantasy Life i Overhaul After Mega Man Creator's Departure". GameSpot. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  38. ^ "Level-5 Announces Keiji Inafune's Departure, Establishment of Osaka Studio for Fantasy Life i Game". Anime News Network. May 19, 2025. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  39. ^ Sickr (May 15, 2025). "Level-5 parts way with Keiji Inafune and the joint subsidiary is now firmly closed". My Nintendo News. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  40. ^ Romano, Sal. "FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time announced for Switch". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
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