Westone to file for Bankruptcy.

[PixyJunket]

http://www.seganerds.com/?p=11262

Sad news for the Wonder Boy / Monster World fans, the Tokyo District Court is investigating Westone Bit Entertainment for debt. Financial reports indicate the WB/MW developers will file for bankruptcy soon.

Westone’s official site has been closed already, while their Facebook account has been left intact since June 13th. Due to this problem, their upcoming software development and deliveries to PSN 6 Xbox Live have been paused, there is also the copyright problems of their IPs that will enter in hiatus.

Pour one out. A piece of my soul dies today.

If you haven't bought the Monster World games on WiiWare/XBLA/PSN, now might be a good time to do it, most especially for the English localization for Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Monster World IV. I figure these would be okay since they were published under Sega, but the wording in the article is a little worrisome.

WiiWare also has the TurboGrafx-16 versions of Monster World II (Dragon's Curse) and Monster World III (Dynastic Hero). Again, I'm not sure if these are "safe," being Konami published (and not technically part of the Wonder Boy/Monster World IP), but you never know.

[lukester]

Sad, but they haven't done anything in years anyway.

Sega owns the Wonder Boy IP, so all the games are in safe hands.

What concerns me is that the rom for Aquario was never released, even though the source code was discovered a year or so ago.

[Mzo]

Super sad, Westone was one of my favorite developers and Wonder Boy easily one of my favorite game series.

Let's not forget NES Jaws, Riot Zone and Willy Wombat.

[johnnykonami]

Sad times indeed.  I loved every one of their games - Played Dragon's Curse to death and all of the other Monster World titles at least once.  I hope they can release Aquario in some form or another one day.

[shubibiman]

Westone also worked on games such as Blood Gear.

[Necromancer]

Another one bites the dust, unable (or unwilling) to keep up in the Flappy Bird / Call of Duty / Minecraft world. 

[PixyJunket]

I really need to pick up Blood Gear.

[toymachine78]

I really need to pick up Blood Gear.

   YES YOU DO! I have a thread for that

[Mathius]

Very sad indeed. The games the company has produced over the years have always been wholly original and loaded with atmosphere. I hope we haven't heard the last from these "Wonder"ful developers.

[tggodfrey]

Well, why pay your debt when you can just file bankruptcy and start fresh....... its the American way!  Now its in Japan

[lukester]

Well, why pay your debt when you can just file bankruptcy and start fresh....... its the American way!  Now its in Japan

What did they even have debt for?

I mean, they haven't made anything since like 2002 at least.

[Mathius]

Well, why pay your debt when you can just file bankruptcy and start fresh....... its the American way!  Now its in Japan

What did they even have debt for?

I mean, they haven't made anything since like 2002 at least.

Don't forget their XBOX Live, PSN, and Wii VC releases.

[PixyJunket]

I really need to pick up Blood Gear.

   YES YOU DO! I have a thread for that

A thread for that, like for sale? Link?

[spenoza]

Westone does not seem like a very prolific studio. In fact, I'm constantly surprised by how long small studios manage to hang in there in Japan. US companies seem to fold much more quickly even with higher output.

[PixyJunket]

Westone does not seem like a very prolific studio. In fact, I'm constantly surprised by how long small studios manage to hang in there in Japan. US companies seem to fold much more quickly even with higher output.

Apparently, for some time now, Westone was basically just Nishizawa doing small contract work on educational software and some mobile stuff.