Licensing Survey Results and Things to Come

Apologies for the wait, but the survey results are finally in! Results have been impressively consistent over the past few years. This year, we received a little over 8,000 responses and the basic demographics are quite similar overall, but we reached a few more women this year (up about 6%) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, our audience is getting older with the 18-24 segment below 50% for the first time and growth in both the 25-30 and 31-40 segments. Non-English language usage is consistent with last year, with Japanese taking the top spot followed by German, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Portuguese. Digital download continues to be the overwhelming preference, accounting for over three quarters of respondents. We saw a slight drop in people looking for more yuri titles and an increase in interest in otome and adult otome titles, but moege and gameplay focused titles continue to dominate preferences––perhaps some things really are eternal.

And now for the part you’ve all been waiting for, the license request ranking!

  1. Evenicle 2 NEW!
  2. A Kiss for the Petals Series
  3. Yoshiwara Higanbana ↑15
  4. Rance Series ↓1
  5. White Album 2 ↓3
  6. Sakura no Uta
  7. Fate/stay Night ↓4
  8. Diabolik Lovers
  9. Mahoutsukai no Yoru ↑12
  10. Soukou Akki Muramasa ↓9
  11. Youkoso! Sukebe Elf no Mori ↓7
  12. Rose Guns Days NEW!
  13. Daiteikoku
  14. Jooubachi no Oubou ↑16
  15. Kannagi no Mori NEW!
  16. Omega Vampire NEW!
  17. Chou no Doku Hana NEW!
  18. Ken ga Kimi ↓10
  19. Bunny Black series ↓17
  20. TRianThology NEW!

If you included your email for a chance at winning either a copy of If You Love Me, Then Say So! or Steam Prison, check your mailbox because emails have gone out to the lucky winners!

Also, we have updated our convention schedule and announcements page, do be sure to take a look! And don’t forget to check out our April Fools sale and pick up your copy of our delightful cat calendar while you still can!

The Closure of Minori

Thank you, everyone, for your continued patience and understanding following the recent news of minori’s closure.

We have received a number of emails and messages from concerned customers and fans but felt it necessary to obtain as much information as possible from minori before issuing a public statement of our own.

For your convenience, we have provided minori’s original Japanese press release, along with a brief summary of that same text. While this post may not answer all of your questions at this time, we will do our best to provide updates whenever possible.

Continue reading

Regarding Recent Inquires Into Steam Content Policy Notices

We would like to confirm, along with so many other developers who have come forward, that our title, Kindred Spirits, has also been targeted by Steam’s sudden and abrupt content policy shift and has been threatened with removal if the content of the game is not modified.

As you may recall from our own announcements and coverage in several news outlets, we and many others in the industry considered the release of Kindred Spirits unaltered on the platform a positive shift in the treatment of tasteful, mature content on the platform. We stand by our assertion then that content of the game is not pornographic, but an earnest and tasteful exploration of sexuality.

We went to great pains to run the game’s content by Valve representatives––including sending along every potentially questionable graphical asset along with advanced builds of the title––to ensure that that feeling was mutual. The game would have never appeared on the platform if we had not confirmed with Valve representatives that they did not feel the content was pornographic and was appropriate for the platform.

Despite our best efforts to respect both the letter and spirit of Valve’s content guidelines as we were made to understand them, we are wholly in the dark with this latest apparent shift in policy as no clear guidelines or standards have been provided. We will seek to negotiate with Valve to keep Kindred Spirits as-is on the Steam Store to the best of our ability, but failing that we still require guidelines to modify the title and future titles to fit these new, apparently stricter standards.

Regardless of Steam’s content policies, MangaGamer remains committed to excellent games and stories being told as they were meant to be. We have a long history of this commitment in the digital space relative to the majority of our competitors, and we invite any developers and partners who would like to sell on our platform to get in touch at support@mangagamer.com as we prepare to upgrade it in coming months for more clients, partners, and community building. Remember that in buying directly through us, more of your purchase goes directly to the game’s developers rather than a significant portion going to retail platform fees.

We will continue to post developments as they progress on this topic. All press requests should be made to our press director, John Pickett, kouryuu@mangagamer.com.

UPDATE 5/19 7:28p.m. EDT: We have just received word from Valve to disregard the previous notice. According to the e-mail, Kindred Spirits will be re-reviewed and we will be provided with specific feedback if there are concerns about the game’s content. We sincerely appreciate Valve’s prompt response with respect to this issue.