Level 5, the creator of fan favorite games such as Dark Cloud, Professor Layton, and Ni no Kuni, will be teaming up with Dentsu to form Level-5 Abby, an initiative which will create, produce, and distribute game and animation content from Japan for children, adults, and fans worldwide across all platforms and devices. The company’s name takes the “a” from the words “all” and “anything,” and the “bby” from “hobby,” to form “Abby.”
The first project that the new company will be involved in is the global rollout of Yo-kai Watch, Level 5’s runaway hit Japanese cross media brand. The full schedule for Yo-kai Watch’s global rollout is below:
TV Anime
- America – Begins broadcasting October 5 at 5:00 p.m. on Disney XD
- Canada – Begins broadcasting October 10 at 2:00 p.m. on Teletoon
Manga
- North America – Begins serialization via VIZ Media on November 3
Video Game
- North America – Yo-kai Watch will launch for 3DS via Nintendo on November 6
Toy Line
- North America – Toy line launching via Hasbro in winter 2016
Level 5 and Nintendo have both stated that they wish for Yo-kai Watch to replicate the Pokemon phenomenon globally (the game has already done so in Japan). The biggest test for this now approaches. Let’s hope all parties involved will be able to come through.