This is the sort of news you expect to come out of E3, but the team at Natsume have jumped the gun a week by announcing the official opening of their Tokyo Office, which the publisher/developer hope will enable them to further expand their development of games not only on video game consoles – but smartphones and tablets such as the spin-off titles for Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove.
The Tokyo office will be headed by newly appointed producer Yasutaka “Taka” Maekawa who will be responsible for development of all games and the overall management of the Tokyo office. They believe that having Taka in the lead role brings a wealth of experience having worked at Taito in Japan where he oversaw several games for both smartphones and tablets.
Graham Markay | Vice President of Operations at Natsume Inc.
The new Tokyo office, coupled with Taka’s experience, will strengthen Natsume’s ability to expand the business in the ever-growing smartphone and tablet games market. We are absolutely thrilled to have Taka as part of the team and we know he will produce some truly entertaining games!
Taka | Natsume Inc. Producer
I am pleased to have an opportunity to work at Natsume Inc., and feel I have come full circle growing up playing Harvest Moon, Reel Fishing, and Pocky & Rocky and now developing the same kind of family-friendly, non-violent games I enjoyed as a child. This is an exciting time for Natsume Inc. and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
Hiro Maekawa | President and CEO of Natsume Inc.
I am especially pleased to formally open our Tokyo office. Taka’s natural abilities being both bilingual and bicultural, raised in both the US and Japan, together with his gaming experience makes him the perfect fit to expand the company globally.
