Dwango Acquires Japanese Developer Chunsoft

According to Japanese reports, mobile game developer and publisher Dwango has purchased 59% of Japanese developer Chunsoft's stock from major shareholder Koichi Nakamura, giving Dwango a controlling stake in the long-time game creator. Dwango, which has U.S. operations headquartered in Seattle but worldwide headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is the Japanese publisher of Ultima Online for Mobile, as well as a mobile version of cult virtual pet Seaman, and is a separate entity from the '90s North American online DWANGO network. Chunsoft is the developer for the popular-in-Japan series Furaai no Shiren, as well as Square's Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon spin-off, and is known chiefly for its console titles, as opposed to Dwango's mobile content. The developer also comprised the programming team behind the SNES entries in the Dragon Warrior series, a role currently being handled on PlayStation 2 by Level 5. No indication was made as to what Chunsoft would do for Dwango, but given their 2D RPG-centric history, it's a good bet that mobile versions of at least some of their previous games will be forthcoming.