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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from D3Publisher)

D3 Publisher Inc.
Native name
株式会社ディースリー・パブリッシャー
Kabushiki-gaisha Dīsurī Paburisshā
Formerly
  • CM Japan Co., Ltd.
  • International Signal Co., Ltd.
  • D3 Publisher Co., Ltd.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo game
FoundedFebruary 5, 1992; 34 years ago (1992-02-05)[1]
HeadquartersChiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
Japan, North America
Key people
Products
Increase¥342.828 million (2020)
Total assetsIncrease¥3.783 billion (2020)
Number of employees
21 (2020)
Parent
Websited3p.co.jp

D3 Publisher Inc.[a] is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992.[2] The company is known for the Simple series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii U, Android, and iOS.

History

[edit]

In April 1997, Culture Publishers, a movie and television distributor, formed a video game division, which was led by Yiji Ito. The division made a name for itself the following year when it introduced the Simple 1500 series of budget titles for the PlayStation, which by 2001 had sold seven million units.[3]

In 1999, Culture Publishers announced that it would exit the video game business, with Yiji Ito planning to purchase the division and re-establish it as an independent company.[3] In June, Ito purchased and renamed International Signal Co., Ltd., as D3 Publisher Co., Ltd. International Signal, originally formed in 1992 as CM Japan, was a real estate company, and after the purchase, its real estate operations were terminated. On July 12, Ito officially purchased Culture Publishers' video game division and merged it into D3 Publisher.[4]

In September 2002, D3 Publisher formed a new joint-venture development/publishing subsidiary with Sega called 3D Ages, with D3 Publisher holding a 49% stake in the new joint-venture unit.[5]

In August 2004, D3 announced it had purchased 100% in stocks of Japanese studio Entertainment Software Publishing for ¥120 million, becoming a fully-owned subsidiary.[6][7]

In April 2005, D3 signed a deal with Buena Vista Games to publish a majority of its video games in Japan.[8]

In April, D3 Publisher Co., Ltd. was renamed to D3 Inc. and became a holding company, with the publishing and distribution portion of the Japanese business transitioning to a new company under the D3 Publisher Co., Ltd. name.[9]

In February 2009, Bandai Namco Holdings gained a 70% controlling share of D3 and announced that it would fully purchase the company.[10][11][12] On March 18, Bandai Namco held a 95% share and announced they would acquire the rest of the company.[13][14]

On April 1, 2010, D3 Publisher Co., Ltd. and ESP merged and folded into D3 Inc., which was renamed to D3 Publisher Inc. on the same day.[15] D3 began a more straightforward partnership with Bandai Namco, with their US division publishing select Namco Bandai Games titles for the North American market.[16]

International subsidiaries

[edit]

D3 Go!

[edit]

In October 2004, D3 announced that it would expand its operations into North America, founding D3 Publisher of America, Inc. in November.[17] The seperately-operated division, of which D3 held 99.5% of its shares, was intended to release and localise D3's Simple budget game series, but instead focused on the licensed children's game market.[18] In an interview, the company's VP of marketing citised that they had no plans to release D3's budget titles in North America.[19]

D3 Publisher of America's most frequent licensee was Cartoon Network, of which the company would hold worldwide video game rights to numerous original series broadcast by the network, including Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi[20], Ben 10[21], The Secret Saturdays[22], Adventure Time[23] and Regular Show.[24]

In May 2006, D3 signed a North American co-publishing and distribution deal with Viz Media and Tomy to release localised versions of the latter's Naruto titles.[25]

In June 2007, D3 acquired North Carolina–based game development studio Vicious Cycle Software and transitioned it to D3 Publisher of America. This expanded the division into the in-house development market.[26]

In November 2008, D3 signed a deal with Imagi Animation Studios to release video games based on Astro Boy.[27]

In February 2012, they signed a deal with DreamWorks Animation to handle worldwide video game rights to Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Rise of the Guardians, and The Croods. This followed DreamWorks' former video game partner, THQ, exiting the licensed kids' game business to focus on core gaming.[28]

The last retail video game released by the company was Earth Defense Force 2025 in February 2014. The company then exited the licensed children's game market, and both Cartoon Network and DreamWorks Animation signed new licensing agreements with Orange County-based publisher Little Orbit in March 2014.[29][30] During the Spring, Little Orbit acquired Vicious Cycle Software from D3 Publisher of America, with the company officially announcing it in September.[31] These changes allowed the company to refocus on releasing mobile games, with Adventure Time: Card Wars and Marvel Puzzle Quest being the first two titles under the new strategy.

In May 2015, D3 Publisher of America Inc. announced that it would change its name to D3 Go! as part of its restructuring.[32] While the company would mainly focus on the mobile game market, they announced that they would have the possible likelihood of localising select titles from the Japanese division, which remained the same.[33]

On June 27, 2022, Italian video game publisher 505 Games announced that they had purchased D3 Go!. The news followed 505's acquisition of Puzzle Quest developer Infinity Plus Two, allowing 505 to take full control of the franchise.[34] The company was renamed to 505 Go! Inc.[35]

D3 Publisher of Europe

[edit]

At the end of January 2006, D3 opened a European branch, D3 Publisher of Europe Ltd., which would release many of the same products as the North American branch. The first title that the company would release would be Flushed Away.[36]

In January 2007, D3 Publisher of Europe launched a budget label, Essential Games, which would release Simple 2000 titles that would be aimed towards younger audiences.[37] This would allow the company to market D3's budget titles on their own, and replaced a prior deal held with Digital Bros division 505 GameStreet.[38]

On 11 August 2010, the company went into liquidation.[39] This followed Namco Bandai Games Europe taking over publication duties for D3 titles outside of Asia and North America, with subsidiary Namco Bandai Partners handling distribution.[40] The company was dissolved in February 2012.[41]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Japanese: 株式会社ディースリー・パブリッシャー, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Dī Surī Paburissha

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20030130130512/https://www.d3p.co.jp/
  2. ↑ "D3 Publisher". Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  3. 1 2 低価格の 'SIMPLE' シリーズで業界の隙間を突いた，元D3パブリッシャー社長・伊藤裕二氏の生存戦略　ビデオゲームの語り部たち：第33部. 4Gamer (in Japanese). November 30, 2022.
  4. ↑ "D3 Publisher Inc". d3p.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 29, 2004.
  5. ↑ "3D Ages". Gamespy. September 3, 2025.
  6. ↑ Niizumi, Hirohiko (August 26, 2004). "D3 Publisher acquires Entertainment Software Publishing". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  7. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (August 26, 2004). "D3 To Purchase ESP". IGN. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Buena Vista Games to Release Titles in Japan". Los Angeles Business Journal. April 27, 2005.
  9. ↑ ディースリー、D3パブリッシャーとESPを吸収合併 [D3 merges with D3 Publisher and ESP]. GameBusiness.jp (in Japanese).
  10. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (February 12, 2009). "Namco Bandai to acquire D3Publisher". Gamespot.
  11. ↑ Randy Nelson. "Namco Bandai announces intent to purchase D3 Publisher". Joystiq. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  12. ↑ Glasser, AJ (March 18, 2009). "By The Way, Namco Bandai Owns (Most Of) D3". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  13. ↑ Lee, James (March 18, 2009). "Namco secures 95 per cent stake in D3P". GamesIndustry.biz.
  14. ↑ Lee, James (March 18, 2009). "Namco to acquire complete D3P business". GamesIndustry.biz.
  15. ↑ 当社は2010年4月1日付で株式会社ディースリーと合併し解散いたしました。. www.esp-web.co.jp (in Japanese). Entertainment Software Publishing. April 1, 2010. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  16. ↑ "D3 Publisher Producer Says There Are Opportunities With Namco Bandai Titles". Siliconera. April 15, 2010.
  17. ↑ Niizumi, Hirohiko (October 13, 2004). "D3 Publisher to launch American subsidiary". Gamespot.
  18. ↑ Maragos, Nich (January 31, 2006). "D3 Publisher Opens Europe Branch, Signs Flushed Away". Game Developer.
  19. ↑ Sheffield, Brandon (February 1, 2007). "Q&A: D3 - Not Just A Simple Company?". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
  20. ↑ Adams, David (May 19, 2012) [June 9, 2005]. "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Tickles GBA". IGN. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Cartoon Network Awards D3Publisher of America The Gaming Rights to Ben 10". GamesIndustry.biz. February 7, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  22. ↑ Staff, I. G. N. (March 25, 2009). "The Secret Saturdays Makes Its Video Game Debut". IGN. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Oh My Glob! This is Legendary! D3Publisher and Cartoon Network Enterprises Announce New Partnership and Video Game for Adventure Time - Press Release". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  24. ↑ "D3Publisher Partners With Cartoon Network to Publish". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  25. ↑ "D3PUBLISHER OF AMERICA AND TOMY CORPORATION ANNOUNCE NARUTO 2 - BELIEVE IT!". GamesIndustry.biz. May 1, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  26. ↑ "D3 Publisher Acquires Vicious Cycle Software". Gamasutra. June 20, 2007. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  27. ↑ "D3 Publisher To Release Astro Boy Games". Animation World Network. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  28. ↑ "D3 Lands Deals with DreamWorks Animation". Animation World Network. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Little Orbit Developing New Adventure Time, Cartoon Network Games - News". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  30. ↑ Orbit, Little. "Little Orbit to Publish How to Train Your Dragon 2 video games based on the upcoming film from DreamWorks Animation". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Little Orbit Acquires Vicious Cycle Software" (Press release). Little Orbit. September 4, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015. The acquisition occurred in Spring of 2014...
  32. ↑ "D3Publisher of America rebrands as D3 Go!". May 11, 2015.
  33. ↑ "How D3Publisher Became D3 Go!". May 11, 2015. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  34. ↑ "505 Games parent acquires D3 Go". June 27, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Android Apps by 505 Go Inc. on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  36. ↑ Maragos, Nick (January 31, 2006). "D3 Publisher Opens Europe Branch, Signs Flushed Away". Game Developer.
  37. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (February 5, 2007). "D3Publisher unveils new budget range". GamesIndustry.
  38. ↑ "Q&A;: D3 - Not Just a Simple Company?". Gamasutra. February 1, 2007. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  39. ↑ "D3PUBLISHER OF EUROPE LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Namco Bandai's gamescom line-up" (Press release). Cergy-Pontoise, France: Namco Bandai Games Inc. August 12, 2010 – via GamesIndustry.biz.
  41. ↑ "D3PUBLISHER OF EUROPE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information". gov.uk.
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