Japanese publisher and game developer Visual Arts, known for acclaimed visual novel titles like Clannad, Air and Canon, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese entertainment and gaming giant Tencent back in July 2023. With almost three years having passed since the acquisition, Visual Arts CEO and president Genki Tenkumo (who is also the producer of Key titles Summer Pockets and anemoi under the pseudonym Touya Okano), talked about what has changed in a new interview with GameWatch.
Tenkumo took on the role of Visual Arts’s CEO precisely at the time of the Tencent acquisition, chosen as a successor by the retired president Takahiro Baba. He says that up to this day, Visual Arts has completely maintained its autonomy when it comes to game production, with Tencent never interfering with the studios’ creative work. The only changes were the introduction of accounting and management systems that meet global standards. Additionally, Tenkumo feels the company’s management has grown more stable. He considers that the original objective of former president Baba, who initiated the deal with Tencent in the first place, has been fully achieved.
As for what this objective was – being a private company where Baba held 100% of shares, the former president feared Visual Arts was at risk of disappearing as a company if anything were to happen to him (according to a blog post penned by him in 2023). He had turned 63 that year, and despite being healthy, felt it was urgently necessary to secure not only Visual Arts’s future, but to preserve the rights to all of its games and music. However, as the company was not in a position to aim for public listing at a time (which was another potential solution to the issue), Baba decided to sell it to a prospective buyer. The decision to transfer shares to Tencent came after a long selection process and agreement from Visual Arts staff.
While Baba had emphasized at the time that “Visual Arts would remain Visual Arts” no matter what, it’s reassuring to see new statements from Tenkumo affirm this is still the case. On a related note, Visual Arts is set to release anemoi, its first full-priced visual novel in over seven years, on April 24. While this is going to be a Japan-only launch, the title is also set to get an international Steam release in the near future. Additionally, the company recently announced the launch of a brand new development label Visual Arts Scripts, with three new titles already announced, so there’s much to look forward to from the developer.
