Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, which includes the well-known Japanese television channel TBS, has announced the creation of TBS Games, their entry into the world of interactive media.
According to the announcement by Tokyo Broadcasting System (via Gematsu) TBS Games will focus on a multi-platform approach with console, mobile and PC. The channel has broadcast a number of high-profile franchises such as The Idolmaster, Seven Deadly Sins and Blue Exorcist. However, crucially many of these anime series already have existing games based on them, some of which have gone onto success but many of which have since shuttered.
However, TBS also has broadcasting rights to a number of famous live-action television shows in Japan. Perhaps the most famous of these shows being Takeshi’s Castle (also known as MXC in some territories), which has something of a cult status in the UK since the series was dubbed over and broadcast in the country, while spin-offs exist in places as far afield as the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.
TBS Games also has a teaser website, which confirms the studio will be seeking to adapt rather than use wholly new IP's. "As with other famous game characters, we aim to turn our original IPs into household names through the creation of games that enrich the lives of players everywhere."
Multimedia mayhem
Although it’s not clear what franchises TBS Games will adapt, Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings is not a stranger to multimedia pursuits. Not only that but it’s interesting to note that mobile is included prominently in their announcement, after all Japan is the home of gacha games and also a massively influential market when it comes to mobile titles.
It also demonstrates just how interested traditional media companies are becoming in gaming. Television viewership has slowly slid with the rise of streaming and on-demand video via the web, but mobile gaming and gaming in general has soared. TBS has been around for 70 years and it may be that some audiences will look to their own national broadcasting systems, such as the BBC and wonder why they haven’t made an effort to push into the market.
