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Chiyomaru Shikura Steps Down as Chair, Executive Director of MAGES.
posted on by Alex Mateo
The multimedia company MAGES. and its chairperson and founding executive director Chiyomaru Shikura announced on Wednesday that Shikura is stepping down from these positions. He will remain as an executive producer who will focus on the development of original works and new games.
The content library of MAGES. and its predecessor companies includes the Science Adventure franchise (Chaos;HEAd, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, Chaos;Child, Occultic;Nine, Anonymous;Code). Through acquisitions, the library also includes the Memories Off franchise, and it has developed and published games tied to anime, light novel, and manga properties.
The gamebiz service reported in December that MAGES is facing excessive debts. The company reported a final loss of 613 million yen (about US$4.6 million) for the fiscal year ending in September 2022, after a final loss of 370 million yen (about US$2.8 million) in the previous fiscal year.
Game developer Colopl purchased all shares of MAGES. from Shikura's CHIYOMARU STUDIO in March 2020, which made MAGES. a wholly owned subsidiary of Colopl.
CHIYOMARU STUDIO purchased all shares of MAGES. from Dwango, a subsidiary of Kadokawa and the previous parent company of MAGE, in July 2019. MAGES. consolidated its 5pb. brand for games and music into MAGES.
Shikura's 5pb. company merged with a number of companies under Kadokawa to form MAGES. in 2011. The company publishes games and music under its 5pb. Games and 5pb. Records labels, and works with Kadokawa for anime and manga adaptations of its properties. Shikura founded CHIYOMARU STUDIO in 2015.
Sources: MAGES., Chiyomaru Shikura's Twitter account via Gematsu
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
