Sanrio launches in-house publishing label Sanrio Games with $62.9m investment

• Sanrio has plans to release 10 games over three years.
• Internal development aims to build new IP alongside legacy characters.

Sanrio has launched its own self-publishing division Sanrio Games as part of a strategic shift from licensing to in-house game development.

As reported by Bloomberg, the new label plans to release 10 titles over the next three years, with several already in development or pre-production. 

The first title, Sanrio Party Land, is scheduled to launch in autumn 2026 for Nintendo Switch and its successor, the Switch 2, with a second game expected in March 2027.

Sanrio intends to invest approximately ¥10 billion ($62.9 million) across development and marketing as it builds out the division. 

The company will oversee the full production pipeline internally, from planning through to publishing, as the company looks to create new intellectual property alongside its existing character portfolio.

Expected losses 

Sanrio expects its standalone games unit to run at a loss due to high development costs of about ¥2bn ($12.5m) per project, though the impact on overall performance is expected to be limited.

The company is also expanding its character-driven revenue strategy into film, with a Hello Kitty movie scheduled for global release in July 2028. Further expanding the brand's reach, Hello Kitty recently appeared in Scopely's megahit Monopoly Go.

Sanrio has also raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 7% to ¥75.1bn ($471m) as it pushes into new business areas.