View source for Meta:The Near Bankruptcy of Chunsoft

The '''Near Bankruptcy of {{Meta|Chunsoft}}''' is an event that took place in the early 2000s. This page covers known information about the fallout and aftershocks of their financial crisis, as well as their recovery.

The most reliable source directly addressing the crisis is an interview with {{Meta|Koji Malta}}, in which he mentions that Chunsoft was going through tough times, with many employees being told to either leave or accept a lower salary. Koji Malta also mentions how the release of {{RescueTeamTitle}} turned out to be a surprising success.<ref name="Koji">https://www.1101.com/intern/kobune_2020/interview/malta/malta03.html</ref>

Another important source of information is a 2channel thread from 2004, in which information on the company was leaked. This was the first public mention of ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'', under the name ''{{Meta|Mystery Dungeon: Pokémon World: Pikachu's Great Adventure}}''{{UT}}.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20220306060334/https://game8.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1080403545/ Archived version of the 2channel thread.</ref>

It is also interesting to note the opinions expressed not by any potential leakers, but rather by regular players, who shared negative opinions on {{Torneko3PS2Title}} in the thread, despite the game later gaining a dedicated fan following. Such negative opinions about the game at the time may have played a role in the crisis or may have reflected the general opinion of the game at the time.

Another, perhaps more dubious, claim from the leak, was that there would not be any more ''Torneko'' games because Chunsoft had allegedly sold the rights to ''Torneko'' to Square Enix. {{YoungYangusTitle}} was released not too long after, however, it was not published nor developed by Chunsoft. While it is true that the ''Dragon Quest Mystery Dungeon'' series stopped receiving new entries, it is unknown what the exact reason is, or if Chunsoft ever owned any rights to ''Torneko''. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, Japanese fan communities generally accept the sold copyright rumor/leak as a well-known fact.<ref>https://ameblo.jp/yamaneko20-01/</ref> There is at least some evidence that they either owned the rights or had some level of freedom with the ''Torneko'' IP as they did sell ''Torneko's Great Adventure'' guidebooks via their website, {{Meta|One Click Content Shop}}.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020806195528/http://www.shiren.jp:80/news/news100000043.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040825084304/http://www.shiren.jp/news/news100000060.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040601141456/http://www.shiren.jp/news/news100000092.html</ref> They referred to the ''Torneko 3'' "fan book" as the "The first official fan book of the ''Torneko's Great Adventure'' series, a sister work of the ''Shiren the Wanderer'' series", and they did a promotional Torneko event/giveaway which was hosted on a sub URL of the {{Meta|Asuka the Swordswoman PC Official Website}}. Players who purchased the guidebooks and sent in a clipping could be eligible for prizes.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20030801230556/http://asuka.shiren.jp/hako/</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040601141456/http://www.shiren.jp/news/news100000092.html</ref> They also held in-person demo events.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20030212052248/http://www.chunsoft.co.jp/event/01.html#t3play</ref> When their new {{Meta|Sega}}-hosted online shop {{Meta|Chun.}} was launched in May 2006, ''Torneko'' merch was nowhere to be found, nor were there any (archived) mentions of it or any soundtracks.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060612203539/http://segadirect.jp/Catalog/CustomPages/CustomDetail3.aspx?File=chun.html</ref>

==Timeline==
;July 1, 2005
:In financial trouble, Chunsoft closed down the {{MoonlightVillagePCTitle}} and {{AsukaTheSwordswomanPCTitle}} online support. They made offline patches. They closed the {{Meta|One Click Content Shop}}.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20051102025227/http://www.chunsoft.co.jp:80/1clickinfo.html</ref><ref name="Koji"></ref>

;September 1, 2005
:End of sales for the ''Asuka the Swordswoman'' online services.

;October 1, 2005
:The One Click Content Shop is officially closed. ''Asuka the Swordswoman'' online services are closed. Moonlight Village PC internet services are closed.

;November 17, 2005
:{{RescueTeamTitle}} released in Japan.

;January 13, 2006
:They start the Chunsoft x SEGA project, with Sega publishing their games, merch, and deluxe editions, hosting Shiren websites for them.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060213095330/http://chun.sega.jp</ref>

;May 25, 2006
:{{Meta|Chun.}}, hosted by {{Meta|SEGA Direct}} is opened. Successor to the One Click Content Shop.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060612203539/http://segadirect.jp/Catalog/CustomPages/CustomDetail3.aspx?File=chun.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060614085916/http://segadirect.jp/Default.aspx</ref>

;April 3, 2008
:Sega closes down SEGA Direct.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080408170438/http://segadirect.jp/Catalog/CustomPages/CustomDetail3.aspx?File=goods_mamuru.html</ref>

;August 26, 2010
:Chunsoft announces they'll be returning to publishing, and creates a new website.<ref>https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2010/08/26/43940.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100827084730/http://www.chunsoft.jp/</ref>

;April 2012
:Chunsoft merges with {{Meta|Spike}}.<ref>https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/company/</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140310021429/http://info.dwango.co.jp/english/history/</ref>

==See Also==
{{Meta Topics Navbox}}

==References==
{{Scrollbox|
<references />
}}

[[Category:Chunsoft News]]
[[Category:History]]