Voltage Games is a prominent Japanese publisher of mobile otome games (i.e., dating sims featuring several men to choose from, aimed at young women) such as My Forged Wedding, Kissed by the Baddest Bidder, and more. We had the chance to speak to company founder Yuzi Tsutani as well as VP Kentaro Kitajima at their booth at this year’s Anime Expo about their games, the challenges of adapting to an American market, and more.
The interview was conducted by Michael Huang, with question help by Linda Yau. Their games are available in the US in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
You are primarily a mobile game company. What is your take on being a mobile company vs PC games?
When we started the company in Japan, we started with Japanese cell phones (keitai). We never thought about doing PC or console games.
What’s your opinion about crowdsourcing funding, like with Kickstarter? Do you think you might pursue any games at Voltage that are crowdfunded as opposed to traditionally funded?
I don’t think so. Our budgets are much bigger than what crowdfunding sites get. People use crowdfunding when they are starting their business…but for us, it’s more like an investment. We are listed already [on the stock market].
Tell us about your best selling game, My Forged Wedding.Why do you think it’s so popular?
We feel that marriage and weddings are popular with women, an important part of their lives. We feel like using that as the main topic for the app, and so it’s become very popular.
Most of your games are aimed at young women. Do you see yourselves as role models? What do you hope to bring to them?
There is that aspect, but our number one goal is to create apps women will enjoy first and foremost.
In many of the games, you have to buy the routes a la carte. What types of routes are most popular?
Usually we have 5 characters in a game. The most popular one is the bossy character, then the cool character. The younger character is not as popular.
Have you had any opportunities to collaborate with other companies or brands, and is that something you would like to do in the future?
In Japan, we are working on releasing an app based on Hana Yori Dango, which is a very popular anime/manga series. If that does well, we’d consider more of them in the future.
You were adapting a very popular title in that case. Has it worked the other way around, adapting some of your games?
Some TV companies are considering making a program based on one of our stories. We can’t say which title. But some have already been made as a manga–our very first title was made into a manga.
Since you’re bringing these very Japanese games to an American audience, are there things you have to change or emphasize differently to appeal to a different culture?
Sometimes in Japanese games, things happen that wouldn’t make any difference there, but directly translated into English may be offensive. We have to be extra careful when we are localizing those aspects.
[Also] in Japan, a very quiet and [introspective] character is a norm, but that’s not the case in America. People prefer a much stronger, more self-aware character, so sometimes we have to adapt them.
What kind of games do you hope to release in this country?
Our next step is Labyrinths of Astoria. This is kind of between Japanese and US characters. It’s the first in our new series of Amemix titles, which aim to blend what’s great about Japan and America. We use anime style art, but with stories based on western concepts like Greek mythologies, with a very diverse cast. So we hope to create a new market with a new series of apps.
