Irem Software Engineering, Inc. is a Japanese company that creates and sells video games and makes pachinko machines. The company’s main office is in Chiyoda, Tokyo.
The full name of the company is Irem Software Engineering. It was started in 1997 by its parent company, Nanao (now called Eizo), to take over the development work from the original Irem Corporation. The original Irem Corporation left the video game industry in 1994 to focus on renting and selling coin-operated machines. Irem Corporation was founded in 1974 as IPM and still exists today under the name Apies.
Irem is well known for three arcade games from the 1980s: Moon Patrol (1982; licensed to Williams Electronics in North America), the first beat ’em up game, Kung-Fu Master (1984), and the side-scrolling shooter R-Type (1987). In Japan, Irem has been popular with games such as Gekibo: Gekisha Boy for the PC Engine and In the Hunt and Undercover Cops for arcade machines.
Since the 2010s, Irem has mostly stopped making console video games and instead focuses on games based on pachinko machines.
History
Irem was founded in 1969 by Kenzo Tsujimoto in Osaka Prefecture. Tsujimoto opened his store in Osaka to sell machines used in cotton candy stores. At that time, Tsujimoto believed the game entertainment industry had strong potential and began making pachinko machines for his business as early as 1970.
The success of the store led to the creation of IPM Co Ltd in 1974, with Tsujimoto as its president. "IPM" stood for "International Playing Machine." At first, IPM’s goal was to build and install video game machines for small stores in Japan. This was similar to Tsujimoto’s earlier work.
As Breakout and its copies became popular in the video game industry, IPM began making, selling, and renting arcade hardware cabinets. In 1977, IPM partnered with Nanao Corporation in Ishikawa Prefecture to produce CRT monitors for its arcade cabinets.
IPM released its first video arcade games in 1978, starting with IPM Invader (a copy of Taito’s famous Space Invaders). In early 1979, IPM changed its name to Irem Corporation after receiving a letter from IBM stating that "IPM" was too confusing. "Irem" was an acronym for "International Rental Electronics Machines."
In 1980, Nanao became the majority owner of Irem Corporation.
Tsujimoto remained chairman of Irem Corporation in the early 1980s, even though he started another company, I.R.M Corporation (the predecessor of Capcom), in 1979. However, Tsujimoto was blamed in 1982 for the poor sales of IPM Invader and other weak titles. He was replaced by Nanao’s president. The next year, Tsujimoto left the company to form Capcom.
Three arcade games released by Irem in the 1980s became its most successful titles: Moon Patrol (1982; licensed to Williams Electronics in North America), the first beat 'em up game, Kung-Fu Master (1984), and the scrolling shooter R-Type (1987). While Irem’s arcade games in the 1980s were usually developed in-house, its published titles on the Famicom home console were often handled by Tamtex, a sister company from the Nanao Group based in Tokyo.
In 1994, Irem stopped making video games completely. The development department of Irem Corporation moved to Nanao’s headquarters in Ishikawa Prefecture. The company’s original wholesale division, which made and sold arcade cabinets, stayed in Osaka and was not affected by the restructuring. Later, some employees from Irem’s video game division left to form Nazca Corporation, which later became known for developing SNK’s Metal Slug franchise.
In late 1996, Irem released the video game Gussun Paradise for the PlayStation. This was the company’s first video game in two years and also its last.
On April 15, 1997, Nanao created Irem Software Engineering Inc. Shortly after, in July 1997, Irem Software Engineering took over the development department of Irem Corporation and absorbed it.
With the video game business moved to Irem Software Engineering, Irem Corporation was left with only its longtime arcade equipment division. In 1997, Nanao sold Irem Corporation to Yubis Corporation. In 1998, Irem Corporation was renamed Apies Corporation Ltd to avoid confusion with Irem Software Engineering. In 1999, Yubis sold Apies to Atlus. Atlus sold its shares of Apies in 2001 for 1,000 yen. Apies has been an independent company since then. As the amusement equipment industry declined, Apies focused on making fortune-telling machines and senjafuda vending machines. In 2018, Apies was the top manufacturer of fortune-telling vending machines in Japan, controlling about 80% of the domestic market. Apies is now based in Wakō and is the original company founded in 1974 by Kenzo Tsujimoto.
After its creation in 1997, Irem Software Engineering developed and published video games in Japan, mainly for PlayStation and Nintendo platforms, under the Irem trademark. Irem Software Engineering owns the rights to the video games made by Irem Corporation and continued releasing new R-Type games. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Irem canceled most of its remaining video game projects, including Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories (production resumed in 2014 under another publisher) and a sequel to Steambot Chronicles. Irem shifted focus back to making slot machines and pachinko machines, the industry it was in before entering video games. Many Irem designers, including producer Kazuma Kujo, formed a new company called Granzella to continue making video games. Though no longer involved in developing or releasing new video games, Irem remains active as a licensor of its intellectual properties to other companies, such as when it sold the rights to produce some of its arcade games to Hamster Corporation in 2017. The company was originally based in Hakusan but moved to Chiyoda, Tokyo, in 2010. It is now a fully owned subsidiary of Eizo Corporation (formerly Nanao).