TOEI, the Japanese entertainment giant behind countless hits like 'Dragon Ball,' 'One Piece,' and 'Kamen Rider' over its 75-year history, has officially entered the gaming market. In April, the company launched 'TOEI GAMES,' a new indie game publishing brand, signaling its expansion into a new entertainment frontier beyond its traditional film and animation business.

What caught the industry's attention was TOEI's 'zero-base' strategy: rather than adapting its existing famous IPs into games, it is focusing entirely on creating new, original IPs. Organized as an in-house startup, TOEI GAMES has set a clear vision to discover unique indie games with global potential, primarily for the Steam platform, and nurture them into multi-faceted franchises.

In particular, the Korean gaming industry took notice when Toei Games included 'KILLA,' a new title from the Korean indie development team Geomgyuldan, in its first-ever publishing lineup. INVEN visited BitSummit in Kyoto to meet with key members of Toei Games and learn more about the background of their entry into the gaming business, their future strategic direction, and their plans for collaboration with the Korean indie scene.

Q. TOEI GAMES officially launched on April 21, and the first lineup was announced on April 24. Could you introduce the brand and the vision behind its launch.

"TOEI GAMES is a project run by our New Business Development Department, which operates like an in-house startup. Our goal is to create new IPs in a domain different from the films and tokusatsu dramas TOEI has handled until now.

Our team consists of four members: Supervisor Takuya Matsumoto, Manager Hiroaki Nagashima, Leader Hiyori Iwakawa, and Game Advisor Kenji Kato. Since three of us—excluding Kato—have no prior experience in the game business, we are all approaching this with a student's mindset, learning everything from game scouting and development progress management to exhibition participation, promotion, and marketing.

Q. TOEI has been producing films, TV shows, and animation for 75 years since its founding in 1951. What is the background behind choosing the gaming business as a new 'pillar' of your operations at this time.

"There are several reasons, but primarily, games are interactive systems that offer long playtimes and high user immersion. We believe this makes them an ideal medium for increasing brand awareness and building a fandom.

Another reason is the existence of Steam. As a platform that allows us to showcase our IP directly to the world continues to grow, we believed we could successfully make the leap into a global business.

Q. The TOEI Group owns many globally recognized IPs like 'One Piece,' 'Dragon Ball,' 'Sailor Moon,' and 'Digimon.' Despite this, your first lineup consists entirely of new, original IPs, which has become a major topic of conversation. Since you could have expected short-term success by using your own IPs, why did you choose to start from 'zero'.

"As mentioned earlier, the very purpose of this business is to create 'new IP' in a field completely different from our traditional business. Our goal is to build a pipeline that maximizes revenue by linking these newly created IPs with synergies across our internal and group-wide businesses.

Q. In the long term, is there a possibility that TOEI GAMES will develop games using the IPs already owned by the TOEI Group? Will you firmly establish your identity as a brand that 'creates original IPs,' or are you considering using your own IPs in stages.

"While creating original IPs will remain our core focus, that doesn't mean we won't consider games based on existing IPs that originated from our company. As you suggested, we plan to review ways to utilize them in stages.

Q. You have selected three titles for your initial lineup: KILLA, HINO, and DEBUG NEPHEMEE. Was there a common criterion used to select these three from the many candidates, and what exactly defines a title that 'Toei Games wants to walk alongside'.

"We didn't consciously try to pick titles that fit a specific 'Toei Games' mold; rather, these three are the titles that our team members discovered and chose individually.

From a business perspective, we look for games that 'stand out as an IP and have a deep, story-driven quality.' Our ideal long-term goal is to develop these game IPs into various forms of multi-use content within the TOEI Group, such as events, merchandising (MD), and video adaptations.

"'KILLA' (Managed by Supervisor Matsumoto)
"I chose 'KILLA' by GumGyuDan. It is a game being developed by a four-woman team in Korea, and we met them during the very early stages of Toei Games' launch. I have seen countless games at various events since then, but I simply couldn't forget the unique art and mysterious story of GumGyuDan's work. It was filled with their passion, and that powerful energy came through clearly. I decided that I wanted to walk alongside such brilliant creators and this wonderful title as our first partner at Toei Games."

'HINO' (Manager in charge: Nagashima)
"My choice is 'HINO' by Ungloom Studio. We first met at an event in Osaka last year. I fell in love at first sight with the beauty of Yatara-san's ballpoint pen illustrations, and when I actually played the game and experienced the world where the 'Moni Moni Skeleton' roams, I felt an indescribable sense of wonder. I was convinced that this game absolutely had to be released to the world, so I set up a meeting on the spot and began negotiations. I am truly happy to welcome this title into Toei Games' initial lineup."

'DEBUG NEPHEMEE' (Leader in charge: Iwakawa)
"DEBUG NEPHEMEE is a title where Noroma-san of Nepheme Studio is handling everything alone—the story, programming, music, and illustrations. When I first played the demo, I was deeply impressed by how meticulously crafted it was, to the point where it was hard to believe it was a one-person project. The unique multitasking game system that makes you gasp while playing is excellent, but I was also captivated by the dense, profound story themed around 'mission' and 'existence' that flows beneath the cute characters, which is why I actively reached out to them."

Q. One of these three spots is held by the Korean indie development team 'GumGyuDan.' I am curious about how you first met them and what the deciding factor was in selecting them.

"'KILLA' is a title that began development years ago and has already won several awards at various competitions. We first noticed the game at an exhibition booth for an award it won in Japan. The deciding factor was the highly original art and the 'twist' appeal of a cruel revenge story hidden behind a cute, picture-book-like exterior.

A very fortunate aspect for us during the collaboration was that there was a member on the Geomgyuldan team who could communicate in Japanese. As with our collaborations with other Japanese creators, we communicate closely through online meetings, Slack, and Discord for daily work. However, we make it a rule to conduct important meetings, such as contract signings or kick-offs, in person. I remember visiting Seoul in the middle of winter to meet with Geomgyuldan and being shocked by the temperature, which was below -15 degrees Celsius (laughs).

Q. With the news that 'KILLA' is in the first TOEI GAMES lineup, interest in your brand among Korean indie developers is growing. Do you plan to expand your collaboration with Korean developers in the future?

"As we prepared for our gaming business in earnest last year, we visited many exhibitions and looked at countless games. Through that process, I felt firsthand that the quality of Korean indie games is incredibly high. We encountered many attractive Korean indie games at places like BitSummit and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) booth at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS), and if the opportunity arises, we would like to positively consider further collaborations with several titles.

Therefore, it is a great honor to have Korean creators show interest in us, and we welcome pitches. However, as I mentioned earlier, since we are still a small team, it may take some time for us to review and respond. We prefer to start by meeting and communicating in person, so we recommend approaching us by saying hello at offline venues like upcoming game exhibitions.

Q. TOEI GAMES has stated that it will start with PC (Steam) and then expand to consoles. Why did you prioritize PC, and what is your strategy or timeline for console expansion.

"Since we began researching the game business at the end of 2024, we have visited many major game events in Japan and abroad, where we have seen countless excellent games on Steam. We also had many opportunities to interact deeply with talented developers who are developing games for the Steam platform. Because of this background, it was very natural for TOEI GAMES to start with PC games, specifically Steam.

We are not yet at a stage where we can provide a specific roadmap for console development. However, we are accelerating our efforts to showcase our titles to console gamers around the world, including Korean users, as soon as possible.

Q. Lastly, do you have a message for the Korean game industry and indie developers.

"TOEI GAMES is very interested in the talented creators of Korea and the companies and organizations that passionately support indie games. We look forward to forming positive partnerships where we can create new IPs together. If you see the TOEI GAMES booth or our staff at events or exhibitions, please do not hesitate to come over and say hello.