Wizardry Wizardry copyright and trademark rights, including 6, 7 and 8, acquired by Japanese company Drecom

[The Jester]

Wizardry with big anime tiddies? sing me up.

 

[LESS T_T]

They announced their new Wizardry game. Yes, it's a mobile game: https://www.gematsu.com/2020/11/wizardry-va-announced-for-ios-android

Wizardry VA announced for iOS, Android
The latest entry in the long-running RPG series.

Drecom has announced 3D dungeon RPG Wizardry VA (title tentative) for iOS and Android. It will be available worldwide. A release date was not announced.

Wizardry VA is the latest entry in the long-running Wizardry series, which Drecom recently acquired copyright and trademark rights to, developed with the concept of “your very own adventure” and various new features on top of the series’ mainstay elements.

Drecom is currently recruiting staff and development partners to work Wizardry VA. Prospective staff can apply here, while development partners can reach out here.

Watch the first footage of Wizardry VA below.

Yeah, it seems 6 party turn-based and I think it doesn't look too bad compared to previous genre-bending incarnations. But who knows what kind of monetization schemes they will put in there.

Also president of the company's tweet seems to suggest that this is one of the first games from their plan, there may be non-mobile game after this.

 

[Casual Hero]

Uh...
I mean this isn't a total surprise, but wow.

All I can say is
>HP
>MP
>SP

 

[Ysaye]

Uh...
I mean this isn't a total surprise, but wow.

All I can say is
>HP
>MP
>SP

Wizardry 8 had SP although that was equivalent to MP.

 

[mondblut]

All I can say is
>HP
>MP
>SP

No wireframe dungeons, too. What travesty is that - the japs have discovered Wizardry 6?

 

[mondblut]

Wizardry 8 had SP although that was equivalent to MP.

I wonder what these yellow bars are for...

 

[The Jester]

Wizardry with big anime tiddies? sing me up.

What have I done?

 

[Contagium]

This series has been dead to me for years. Anime sucks. Time to take up game design and develop blobbers not aimed at pedos.

 

[LESS T_T]

Interview with the president of Drecom (Japanese): https://gamebiz.jp/?p=282902

• He himself also found it odd that Wizardry IP is split into 1~5 and 6~8, and is not sure about rights to 1~5.
• He's enjoyed Wizardry Empires and Busin Wizardry games.
• He considers this game as a spin-off.
• The game is in alpha-ish. It has a basic loop of exploration, battles, and town.
• It seems that presentations of dungeon and battle are inspired by Busin games. But unlike Busin, you see battle in the protagonist's first-person perspective. i.e. you can see other characters in your party move, as you can see in that trailer.
• They're cautious about social and online elements, since they can undermine the feeling of 'having your own adventure' they're aiming for. They know the audience for this type of game would want a standalone experience but since this is a mobile game and from the business perspective, they feel the need to add some form of social aspects.
• Monetization methods are not determined yet as well. (But it sounds like being free-to-play is pretty much determined.)
  
• It won't be plain and soft RPG, but he also talks about "modernizing" some systems like aging characters and wego.
• This game will be mobile only but they're thinking about more things for Wizardry IP.

Well at least they started from the source (original Wizardry games) and are molding it into a mobile game rather than adding Wizardry-ish elements to a mobile game.

 

[LESS T_T]

News from March. Drecom will license Wizardry IP to a blockchain game developer: https://www.thirdverse.io/en/article-2022-03-18.html

Thirdverse Group and Drecom Sign MOU for Blockchain Game Development​

Thirdverse Inc., a leading virtual reality game development, distribution and management company, and Drecom Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce a new partnership to plan, develop, and operate blockchain games.

Yuki Naito, Drecom CEO said: “Games and other forms of entertainment have always developed along with new technologies. We believe that technologies generated in Web3 will have a strong influence on the development of entertainment in the next 5 to 10 years. GameFi (Game x Blockchain x Finance) has recently been attracting attention, and we’re seeing new product launches almost every day.” Masaru Ohnogi, Thirdverse CBO / Blockchain Division adds: “It’s essential in this competitive market to deliver high-quality products and carefully foster communities based on IPs. In this partnership, Thirdverse Group and Drecom will bring our tremendous expertise in game planning and development, community management, marketing, and understanding of the latest Web3 trends that are necessary to make this happen.”

Thirdverse is dedicated to realizing a "VR x Metaverse" and has been developing VR games in Japan and the United States since 2013. In addition to its world-class VR game development capabilities, the company is partnering up with global leaders such as Animoca Brands to bring cutting-edge know-how in Web3.

Drecom, with gaming business at its core, has been expanding business by increasing profits from IP game operation and development. Drecom is also engaged in R&D of new technological fields and development of new business with the aim of creating the next core business.

Thirdverse Group and Drecom have agreed to collaborate on the development and operation of IP blockchain by utilizing the management resources of both companies, and plan to announce its product roadmap in the coming months.

There's no mentions of Wizardry in English press release but Japanese articles mention that they're using Wizardry IP for this. https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20220318109/

This blockchain game will be announced in Summer.

This is not the same game with Wizardry VA, Dreacom's own mobile game. They released this video last year. Apparently this thing is coming in late this year or early next year.

 

[JarlFrank]

All I can say is
>HP
>MP
>SP

No wireframe dungeons, too. What travesty is that - the japs have discovered Wizardry 6?

It's only going to take them another decade to discover Wizardry 7, then another to discover Wizardry 8. They're getting there!

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Bleh.

 

[Butter]

What did Wizardry ever do to deserve this?

 

[d1r]

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ask Cleve. That stones of arse probably set the curse into motion unless it started before that. Cleve's telling of that tale had me stunned. I dunno how Cleve worked on that project even that long.