Level-5 Appears to Have Shuts Down North American Operations - News

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Yo-Kai Watch and Ni no Kuni developer Level-5 has apparently shut down its North American operations, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter who spoke with GamesIndustry.biz.

The sources say Level-5 International America and Level-5 Abby began winding down its operations starting in the middle of 2018, which included laying off the majority of staff. The sources estimate that around 10 employees were laid off at Level-5 Abby in August 2019 and a similar number at Level-5 International America.

There was no clear reason for the layoffs, however, those connected to level-5 Abby say employees were "given every indication" that the studio would eventually be shutting down. One or two employees would remain for a few months to "carry out essential functions throughout the process," while Level-5 works to consolidate its "business between the Japan office and international advertising and branding company Dentsu."

Multiple sources have also said Level-5 Abby COO and head of Abby's day-to-day operations Yukari Hayakawa left the company earlier this year. However, the job still appears on her LinkedIn profile. 

At this time it is unclear what the future of Level-5 releases in North America will be. One source suggested Level-5 had no plans to release any more of its games outside of Japan. 

Level-5 has not made any specific announcements for releasing more games in North America. The most recent western release from Level-5 was Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl – Gold for Switch in February 2020.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

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Red_Beard (on 12 October 2020)

I forget these guys are even still around, haven't played anything from them since Dark Cloud 2, I think that was like 16-17 years ago? Speaking of, would be cool to see them or anyone revisit the ideas in those games.

• +2

SanAndreasX Red_Beard (on 12 October 2020)

They did the Ni no Kuni and Professor Layton games which did well in the US. Ni no Kuni 2 came out in 2018. Ni no Kuni was published by Namco and the Layton games were published by Nintendo, so hopefully those deals will continue.

• +1

Red_Beard Red_Beard (on 12 October 2020)

Ni no Kuni was something I was interested prior to its launch, but the demo released prior turned me off from it.

• +1

Jranation (on 12 October 2020)

I cant take this company seriously after the milking of Yokai Watch.

• -2

Darwinianevolution Jranation (on 13 October 2020)

Level 5 has been a very short sighted company for a while now, prioritizing fast profits over stable, long term plans, and because of that they've burned out their franchises too fast.

• +3

Chazore (on 12 October 2020)

I guess if it's going to stay a near one trick pony, and continue wanting to do so, then that's really on them if they want to just stop selling outside of Japan.

• -2

SanAndreasX Chazore (on 12 October 2020)

They have a pretty good portfolio of games, even if Yo-Kai is their big seller. Almost all of their games that I played were localized and published by other companies, they never really did make a huge push to self-publish in the West.

• +3

Ayla (on 12 October 2020)

and stay out. We dont want you back.

• -6