Natsume, the publisher of Harvest Moon in North America, are opening an office in Tokyo, which will expand their development of games for consoles, portables and smartphones.
The Tokyo office will be headed up by newly-appointed producer Yasutaka “Taka” Maekawa, who will be responsible for development of all games and for managing the Tokyo office. Prior to his position at Natsume, Maekawa worked at Taito in Japan, where he oversaw a number of games for smartphones and tablets.
“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,” said Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations at Natsume Inc. “We are absolutely thrilled to have Taka as part of the team and we know he will produce some truly entertaining games!”
“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,” said Taka, Natsume Inc. Producer. “This is an exciting time for Natsume Inc. and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
“I am especially pleased to formally open our Tokyo office, said Hiro Maekawa President & CEO of Natsume Inc. “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.”
Natsume are currently collaborating with Harvest Moon series creator Yasuhiro Wada on Hometown Story, slated for release on the Nintendo 3DS.
