Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. (株式会社日本一ソフトウェア) is a Japanese company that makes and sells video games. It was started in 1991 and has created many role-playing games, including the Disgaea and Marl Kingdom series. The company’s mascot is a character named Prinny, who looks like a penguin.

NIS America is a part of Nippon Ichi Software that helps make games for different countries and sells them worldwide. It was founded in 2003 and first focused on selling games in North America. In 2007, it began selling games in Europe and other regions. NIS America also sells anime.

History

Nippon Ichi Software was founded in September 1991 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, as a company that creates entertainment software. In July 1993, the company moved its headquarters and reorganized itself. Over the years, the company has bought other companies, joined with others, and created new branches. In the early 2010s, it formed two new companies: Nippon Ichi Software Asia Pte. Ltd and Nippon Ichi Software Vietnam Co., Ltd. In 2016, NIS merged with System Prisma Corporation and bought FOG Inc. In 2012, the company received a Guinness World Record for releasing the most strategy role-playing games. The company helped Hamster Corporation with the release of the Arcade Archives series in 2014 but later stopped participating as the series became financially successful.

Nippon Ichi Software has created many traditional role-playing video games. Characters from earlier games often appear in later games as hidden characters, even if the games are not directly related. The company’s main game series, Disgaea, takes place in the same fictional universe.

Games

Nippon Ichi Indie Spirits is a label that helps the company bring non-Japanese indie games to the Japanese market by translating and adapting them. This label was created on December 28, 2016. Its first games, Nidhogg, Back to Bed, and Emily Wants to Play, were released in February 2017. All games published through this label are only available as digital downloads.

NIS America

NIS America, a company that translates and publishes games worldwide, was established on December 24, 2003. It is part of Nippon Ichi Software and is located in Santa Ana, California. The company initially focused only on the North American market until it expanded to Europe and other regions in 2007. This expansion happened because Nippon Ichi Software wanted to publish its games internationally, as their games became more popular outside Japan. Before 2003, NIS games were released in English by other companies. Some of the company's most famous games include series like Atelier, Ys, and Trails.

Personnel

Kenzo Saruhashi is the chief leader and president of Nippon Ichi Software. He took over after Tetsuhisa Seko, who passed away in January 2025.

Takehito Harada is the chief executive officer and video game artist at the subsidiary company Studio ToOefuf. His artwork has appeared in video games such as Disgaea, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, and Fate/Grand Order.