Viz Media to Expand Into Video Game Publishing

Viz Media is a big name in the publishing industry. Their only involvement in video games has been comic book adaptions of various gaming titles like The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon. Now the company is expanding their publishing to video games themselves. Their first title will be by indie studio Rose City Games with their upcoming project, The World Next Door.

The publisher's new gaming arm wants to focus on original, narrative-driven games, and that they are currently accepting inquiries from developers, regardless of how far into production is already is.

The World Next Door sounds like a perfect fit for their scope. Developed by Rose City Games, the game is the story of a teenage girl as she is led through a world of magic and beauty. Viz Media cites anime as the biggest inspiration to the title, which can be seen in it's fantastical and mysterious aesthetic. So far we've only seen the Key art for the game, as seen in the header. From this, we can get a taste of the style of the game.

This game will be the Portland-born studios first step into game development. Though prior to this, the studio was part of the marketing for games like Hiveswap, the Homestuck inspired title.

According to Viz Media, there is no release window for The World Next Door. The same goes for what platforms the game will be available for.