AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series where Operation Rainfall will be briefly covering publishers that specialize in localizing niche-market titles into America. Fans of niche gaming should pay close attention to each of these publishers, and the best way to support them is by purchasing the titles they localize. As the saying goes, “put your money where your mouth is”… Without further ado, we present this week’s publisher:

Due to the recent American release of The Last Story, XSEED Games is somewhat of a special publisher to readers here at Operation Rainfall. The Last Story, however, is not the reason we chose to highlight them in our publisher spotlight. Although the company is relatively new to the localization scene, they have a rich catalog of diverse and eclectic titles that they have published in the few short years since they first started in 2004. And if their current release schedule is anything to go by, you should have your eye on them for a long time to come.

XSEED Games was founded in 2004 by Jun Iwasaki, the former president of Square Enix’ North American division, along with several other former Square Enix employees that had helped usher in the RPG frenzy starting with Final Fantasy VII. What started off as a marketing team, XSEED Marketing, eventually grew into a full fledged publisher, specializing in niche game localization.

The first title to be published by XSEED Games was the PlayStation 2 title, Wild Arms 4, in 2006, followed by the third game in the Shadow Hearts series, From the New World. In 2008, XSEED Games joined with Marvelous Entertainment to co-publish their games in America, beginning  with Valhalla Knights 2. In 2010, XSEED partnered with Nihom Falcom to publish both the Ys series of games and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP).

XSEED Games earned their reputation as an excellent niche game publisher through their distinctive taste for quality titles in Japan, amazing pre-order incentives and Limited Editions, great sense of localization style, and dedication to their fans. They maintain regular, direct communication with their fans through their official forums and social media accounts.

You may recognize a few titles published by XSEED over the past few years, including Little King’s Story (Wii), Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP), Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii), Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS), Corpse Party (PSP) and many more.

Just a small sample of the diverse games published by XSEED. And these are just the Wii games!

In addition to The Last Story for Wii, XSEED Games has had an extremely busy 2012 summer/fall launch schedule , including such titles as Ys Origin (PC/Steam), Unchained Blades (PSP, Vita, 3DS), Way of the Samurai 4 (PS3), Orgarhythm (Vita), and Ragnarok Odyssey (Vita). 

Follow XSEED Games Online:

Website: http://www.xseedgames.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/xseedgames

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XSEEDGames

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/XSEEDgames