Kairosoft (Japanese: カイロソフト, Hepburn: Kairosofuto) is a Japanese video game developer located in Tokyo, Japan that has created a number of simulation games for cell phones, PCs and Nintendo Switch. Founded in 1996, the company has developed a number of mobile games for the Japanese market and has found great success in porting them to the modern iOS and Android operating systems.[1] The company was ranked 30th in Pocket Gamer's "top 50 developers of 2012" list.[2]

Kairosoft
IndustryVideo games
Founded1996; 26 years ago (original)
September 2007 (incorporated), 2014 (large business)
FounderKazuyuki Usui
Headquarters,
Number of employees
14
Websitekairosoft.net

History

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Kairosoft was founded as a dōjin games developer in 1996, and is currently located in the Nishi-Shinjuku district of Tokyo with only nine employees. They started out developing simulation games for the Windows platform, the first of which was released in 1996 and simulated a used bookstore, and another example was the original Game Dev Story released in 1997, with a sequel released in 2001.[3] In 2001, Kairosoft switched to developing mobile simulation games for the Japanese cell phone market, which was much more developed than America's.[1][4] The company was incorporated in September 2007, and launched a new website on November 4, 2008.

With the release of Game Dev Story for iOS and Android in 2010, Kairosoft found itself a large hit, which reached the top ten in iPhone app sales in its first week.[5] Kairosoft continued to port over games that it had previously developed for other platforms. Pocket Gamer ranked Kairosoft 30th on its "top 50 developers of 2012" list, calling Kairosoft games a "genre in their own right" but noting that they still were mostly a niche in the market.[2]

Games

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English games for WildTangent

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Name WildTangent release date Latest update
Anime Studio Story June 7, 2015[6] August 15, 2016 (1.19)
Beastie Bay April 10, 2013 June 10, 2016 (3.12)
Biz Builder Delux May 16, 2016 Not yet updated
Bonbon Cakery August 23, 2016 Not yet updated
Legends of Heropolis Christmas 2016
Dungeon Village August 15, 2013 June 30, 2016 (2.31)
The Manga Works Thanksgiving 2016 Not yet updated
Skyforce Unite! June 17, 2016 Not yet updated
Mega Mall Story April 10, 2012[7][8] October 1, 2016 (4.15)
Magazine Mogul August 15, 2015 June 17, 2016 (1.27)
Kairobotica April 16, 2013 June 7, 2015 (2.51)
Game Dev Story June 10, 2011 October 2, 2016 (5.83)

Mobile games available in English

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Name Play Store release date
The Manga Works Aug 4, 2016
Game Dev Story Dec 10, 2010
Boxing Gym Story Feb 9, 2021
Tropical Resort Story Jun 19, 2022
Grand Prix Story Jun 8, 2011
Dream Park Story Oct 1, 2021
Station Manager Jun 8, 2016
Dungeon Village Mar 2, 2012
Hot Springs Story 2 Nov 16, 2020
Home Run High May 1, 2017
Mega Mall Story 2 May 21, 2019
Pocket Academy Apr 25, 2012
Burger Bistro Story May 7, 2021
Forest Camp Story Jun 30, 2021
The Sushi Spinnery Jul 3, 2012
Pool Slide Story Dec 18, 2017
Silver Screen Story Jun 5, 2019
The Ramen Sensei May 1, 2015
Bonbon Cakery Mar 5, 2015
Pocket League Story Sep 7, 2011
Dream House Days Jan 28, 2013
Pocket Harvest Oct 30, 2013
Basketball Club Story Jun 30, 2019
Legends of Heropolis Jul 19, 2016
Beastie Bay Sep 28, 2012
Dream Town Story Dec 11, 2017
High Sea Saga Feb 9, 2015
March to a Million Jan 23, 2017
Kingdom Adventurers Aug 29, 2019
Pocket Clothier Jun 7, 2012
Pocket Academy ZERO Dec 21, 2012
Pocket League Story 2 Jul 1, 2013
Grand Prix Story 2 Jul 3, 2017
The Ramen Sensei 2 Feb 15, 2018
Biz Builder Delux SP Sep 20, 2017
Skyforce Unite! Mar 24, 2016
Quest Town Saga Jan 21, 2019
Cafeteria Nipponica SP Apr 13, 2017
Jumbo Airport Story Sep 26, 2022
Pocket Academy 3 Aug 16, 2022
Convenience Stories Mar 28, 2022
Forest Golf Planner Feb 20, 2022
Dungeon Village 2 Mar 9, 2021
Social Dev Story Apr 22, 2019
Pocket Arcade Story DX Mar 26, 2019
Kairo Land Feb 21, 2018
Wild Park Manager Jul 12, 2017
Shiny Ski Resort Apr 7, 2017
8-Bit Farm Feb 2, 2017
Magician's Saga Jan 13, 2017
Thrift Store Story Sep 29, 2016
Pocket Arcade Story Jun 24, 2016
Tennis Club Story Feb 2, 2016
Fish Pond Park Apr 27, 2015
Anime Studio Story Feb 2, 2015
Biz Builder Delux Dec 25, 2014
Kairo Club Feb 9, 2015
Magazine Mogul May 6, 2014
Pocket Stables Lite Aug 20, 2014
Ninja Village Mar 24, 2013
Pocket Stables Feb 21, 2013
The Pyraplex Dec 13, 2012
Venture Towns Sep 7, 2012
Kairobotica Aug 2, 2012
Oh!Edo Towns Jul 25, 2012
Cafeteria Nipponica Apr 4, 2012
Mega Mall Story Dec 29, 2011
Epic Astro Story Dec 16, 2011
World Cruise Story Nov 15, 2011
Hot Springs Story Apr 15, 2011
Zoo Park Story May 21, 2023
Dream Town Island Jun 1, 2023
Cafe Master Story Jun 26, 2023
TV Studio Story Nov 21, 2023
Cavern Adventurers Jan 16, 2024
Heian City Story Jul 10, 2024
Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story Sep 30, 2024

Computer games available in English

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Game Name Platform Ref.
Blue Sky Squadron Windows 10
Cafeteria Nipponica Windows 8
Departure!! Shipping Freighter Windows 10
Dragging Cat Rebel Windows 8
Excitement! Manga Dojo Windows 8
Game Center Club Windows 10
Manga Path Windows 8/10
Mega Mall Story Windows 7/10
Million March Windows 7
Munch Munch Kairo-kun Not defined
Outdoor Excavation Company Windows Vista/7/8
Pool Slide Story PS4 [9]
Piko Piko! Game Expo Windows 10
Prestigious Pocket Academy Windows 7
Prestigious Pocket Academy 2 Windows 7
Royal Gallery Academy Windows Vista
World Cruise Story Windows 10

Untranslated games

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Mobile

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  • Departure!! Shipping Freighter (Android and Keitai only)
  • Dragging Cat Rebel
  • Excitement! Manga Dojo (iOS and Keitai only)
  • Friends Entertainment Building
  • Game Center Club
  • Good Ramen Museum ~National Hen~
  • Manga Path
  • Munch Munch Kairo-kun
  • Outdoor Excavation Company (Keitai only)
  • Piko Piko! Game Expo (Keitai only)
  • Prestigious Pocket Academy 1 (Android and Keitai only)
  • Royal Gallery Academy (Keitai only)
  • Social Game Dev Dream (Android and Keitai only)
  • Start!! Hero Base
  • Wai Wai! Game Dealer (iOS and Keitai only)
  • Witch Quest
  • Bookstore Story
  • Game Developing Countries
  • Game Developing Countries II DX
  • The Narrow Path to Manga
  • The Secondhand-book Store
  • The Secondhand-book Store 2

References

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  1. ^ a b Brown, Mark (August 5, 2011). "Kairosoft: Game Dev Story's game dev story". Wired. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Jordan, Jon (February 26, 2012). "The PocketGamer.biz top 50 developers of 2012: 30 to 21". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  3. ^ Lada, Jenni (June 1, 2012). "Important Importables: Kairosoft". Technology Tell. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  4. ^ Nicholson, Brad (November 30, 2010). "'Game Dev Story 2' Coming To iOS, But Not 'Soon'". Touch Arcade. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  5. ^ Cowan, Danny (October 19, 2010). "Top-Grossing iTunes Apps: Cartoon Wars 2, Game Dev Story Enter Charts". Gamasutra. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  6. ^ Ronson, Mark. "Kairosoft Finally Banging Off Anime Studio Story As #1 on the WildTangent Market!". WildTangent. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  7. ^ Germanotta, Stefani. "Kairosoft Mega Mall Story Game Appears With Banner For The First Time on WildTangent!". TechRadar. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  8. ^ Landis, Dave. "The Next Venture of Kairosoft on WildTangent Appears in Asia!". GregToDiffer. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  9. ^ "This Week's Japanese Game Releases". Gematsu. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
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