Two days ago, Marvelous and AQ Interactive announced they would be merging along with Liveware to form Marvelous AQL. Xseed helped Marvelous establish a foothold in North America with a publishing partnership formed in 2008. This gave Xseed games like Little King’s Story, Avalon Code, and Rune Factory Frontier. Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance for PSP was the last Marvelous game handled by Xseed.
Savvy Siliconera readers are also aware AQ Interactive is Xseed’s parent company. Being at the center of the merger I asked Ken Berry, Director of Publishing, if Xseed had a statement. Here’s what I received in an e-mail.
With the merger of our parent company, AQ Interactive, with Marvelous Entertainment (MMV), our already established relationship with MMV will indeed become closer. We will have more opportunities to evaluate MMV’s full lineup for publishing consideration in North America, however, it will not be an exclusive relationship. Everything will be evaluated on a title-by-title basis to maximize the benefit for the new Marvelous AQL group as a whole, whether it be XSEED publishing an in-house title or licensing it out to anther third-party publisher.
So, the merger does not guarantee Marvelous localizations or a slate of titles for Xseed. On the plus side, that leaves Xseed free to work with Falcom and pick up games like Wizardry: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls. Upcoming Marvelous titles include Half-Minute Hero Second, Senran Kagura: Portrait of the Girls, Grand Knights History, and the elusive Half-Minute Hero Neo for Xbox Live Arcade.
