Level-5 Inc. is a Japanese company that creates and sells video games. It is located in Fukuoka and was started in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino. He started the company after leaving Riverhillsoft. Level-5 is famous for making games in the Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, Ni no Kuni, Yo-kai Watch, Snack World, and Megaton Musashi series.
History
Level-5 was started in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino and his team at Riverhillsoft, after the release of OverBlood 2. At first, Hino did not think his team could become an independent company, so he partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment. Sony allowed him to make games for its PlayStation 2, but only if he created his own company. The name "Level-5" comes from Japanese school report cards, where "Level-5" is the highest grade. When the company was formed, it had eleven employees.
Level-5's first major game was Dark Cloud, an action role-playing game made for Sony Computer Entertainment. It was meant to be released with the Japanese PlayStation 2 in March 2000 but was delayed until December 2000 in Japan and 2001 worldwide. A sequel called Dark Chronicle, later named Dark Cloud 2 in North America, was developed next. The company also worked with Microsoft Game Studios on an MMORPG called True Fantasy Live Online for the Xbox, but the project was canceled in 2004.
Yasumi Matsuno, who directed games like Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics, joined Level-5 in June 2011. He left after completing work on Crimson Shroud for the Nintendo 3DS. By the early 2010s, Level-5 was one of the ten largest video game companies in Japan, with a 3.2% market share. In October 2015, Level-5 created a spin-off company called Level-5 Abby in Santa Monica with Dentsu. In October 2020, it was reported that Level-5’s North American operations, including Level-5 Abby, would shut down due to low sales. That same month, Level-5 launched a manga publishing platform named "Manga 5."
In 2009, Level-5 introduced its Roid service, a mobile phone app that delivers games and social features. It works only with NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode internet service in Japan. Users pay a monthly fee for access to exclusive games. The platform launched with six games: Sloan and McHale’s Mystery Story, Professor Layton and the Mansion of the Mirror of Death Remix, Chara Jo P, Yuuenchi wo Tsukurō Revolution, Treasure Island, and Elf the Dragon. The first three were made by Level-5, while the others were developed by other companies.