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Fate/Extra Developer Imageepoch Files for Bankruptcy

Japanese game developer Imageepoch as well as affiliate company Smile Online Game filed for bankruptcy with the Tokyo District Court last Thursday.

The deadline for the companies to file their credit is June 4. The company will also hold a meeting for a report on its assets on July 30.

Imageepoch lists around 1.1 billion yen (around US$9.17 million) in debt to 43 creditors. Affiliate company Smile Online Games lists around 3 million yen (around US$25,015) to five creditors.

Imageepoch was established in 2004, and developed such games as Luminous Arc, 7th Dragon, Fate/Extra, and Time and Eternity. The company earned an income of 1.7 billion yen (US$14 million) in the fiscal year ending in September 2011. Rising development costs and failure to reach sales targets put its annual income at 410 million yen (US$3.4 million) in the fiscal year ending in September 2013. The company was unable to recover, and by November last year, it had suspended all major development activity.

Idea Factory CEO Yoshiaki Satō first reported that he was unable to contact Imageepoch CEO Ryohei Mikage last month. Mikage's Twitter account was taken offline as of last Wednesday.

Atlus USA announced in March that it will release Imageepoch's Stella Glow 3DS role-playing game. While Imageepoch initially announced the game as a solo project, Sega is now publishing the title.

Source: Teikoku Databank via Hachima Kikō