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Level-5 International America would like to develop games
Level-5's mysterious "International America" branch is working on the localization for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, CEO Akihiro Hino tells Siliconera. That kind of thing is the office's responsibility for the time being. "Our US office mainly works to efficiently release the Japanese titles that Level-5 has created overseas and they are involved in production and distribution in the overseas territories," Hino said.However, there's more in mind than localization for Level-5 IA. "In the future, we would potentially like to develop title overseas where Level-5 International America is taking the lead on developing for the overseas market," he says. Of course, with games like the Layton series, Level-5 already seems to have a decent handle on the overseas market.
Level-5 files US trademark for 'Little Battlers eXperience'
We still don't know exactly what Level-5's American branch is doing, but a US trademark filed by the company could provide a clue. Siliconera found a trademark (serial number 85377402) for "Little Battlers eXperience," a title that references the "LBX" toy robots in Danbol Senki, a PSP action RPG about collecting and battling toys. After our TGS demo with the game, we'd be happy to see a localization. In Japan, the PSP game is accompanied by a manga, an anime series, and even a toy line (one of the toys is bundled with the game), but Level-5 has made no announcements regarding a localized version of any of those things. The US trademark explicitly covers all those media.
Level-5 CEO introduces the new American office
Level-5's "International America" office is now up and running in Santa Monica, California, ready to begin doing ... whatever that office will be doing. In a video posted on the official website, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino outlined the operations of Level-5 IA. The office will "not only release games developed in Japan," he said, "but we are also planning to create original content for the US." Neither he nor the website mentions any specific projects undertaken at IA. Hino acknowledged the differences between the Japanese and American markets -- effectively ruling out the 3DS hostess RPG -- "but we hope to make innovative games that our fans in the US will enjoy." The company also posted a photo tour of its new offices. We're sure you'll be shocked to hear that they're beautiful.
Level-5 opening office in Santa Monica
Professor Layton, Dragon Quest IX, and White Knight Chronicles developer Level-5 is moving forward with its plan to establish an office in the US. Level-5 International America Inc. will open in Santa Monica, California this September. The company will further expand in 2011 with an office somewhere in Europe. CEO Akihiro Hino has said that these expansions are focused on releasing games overseas. At the very least, this should mean more localization staff, but it could also be a sign of Level-5 attempting to establish a publishing business outside of Japan. We're okay with there being a different logo on our Professor Layton games, as long as we have those games soon. [Via Siliconera]
