Arika, the Japanese game development company known for Fighting EX Layer, revealed that someone had sent a threat message through its web contact form in 2019. After reporting the incident to the police, the perpetrator was eventually identified and found guilty. The police asked the company to refrain from publicizing the incident until October 25, 2021, to help with the investigation.
On September 3, 2019, Arika received a threat message through its web contact form. The letter indicated plans to harm the company and even kill one of its executive staff members. Arika immediately reported the incident to the police. It formally filed a criminal complaint on November 15, 2019.
The police managed to identify the perpetrator in early October 2020. It then filed charges to the prosecution on April 13, 2021. The perpetrator had admitted their crime to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, so the latter made an indictment on September 9, 2021, and issued a summary order on September 16, 2021. It eventually found the perpetrator guilty on October 5, 2021. Arika’s press release did not publicize the perpetrator’s actual identity.
Arika is recently known for working on Fighting EX Layer. It released the fighting game first on PlayStation 4 in June 2018. The company has since also brought the game to PC, arcades, and mobile devices. In 2021, Arika released a Nintendo Switch version of the game, titled Fighting EX Layer: Another Dash. The Switch released appeared first in Japan on April 1, 2021. The official global releases followed a month later, in May 2021.
