Cult classic JPRG Elona’s “sequel” Elona 2 is not a real sequel and uses the name without permission, according to original developer 

Japanese solo developer Noa (Lafrontier) recently woke up to news of a third-party announcing a “sequel” to their cult classic RPG Elona. The problem is, they have not given permission for the game’s name to be used or any sequels to be made. “I’m an independent developer and have no strength to fight this,” they stated in a resigned comment on their personal X account.  

Noa released the roguelike sandbox RPG Elona back in 2007 for free, and the game has maintained a passionate player community for over 15 years. With the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, Noa recently started working on an official prequel to Elona. Titled Elin, the new open-world RPG is set to release on Steam.

But last week, game publisher Hong Kong Kunpan Culture Entertainment (hereafter Kunpan Games) suddenly announced the mobile title “Elona 2~Pixel Art x Isekai x Adventure RPG” (hereafter Elona 2). Kunpan Games has advertised the title as a sequel to Elona and has already opened pre-registrations for it on app stores. 

In response to this news, Noa swiftly let followers on X know that the so-called Elona 2 was not a sequel to Elona and that they had previously declined a request for the game’s title to be used. 

Following this statement from the IP’s owner, Kunpan Games’ press release on Elona 2 was deleted, however, the company released a statement on X in which they claim to have obtained a legitimate license to make Elona 2. They refer to Elona 2 as the latest numbered title in the Elona Mobile game series by developer Digital Dog. 

There is a mobile game from 2021 called Elona Mobile which was developed with permission from Noa (Related article). It was published by LTGAMES GLOBAL and developed by the above-mentioned Chinese developer Digital Dog. It seems that Kunpan Games named their new title “Elona 2” in the sense that it is a sequel to Elona Mobile, not “the” Elona. However, the initial Japanese language press release referred to the game as the “latest successor to Elona” and described it as being set in the world of Ylva, like Elona.  

While the publisher’s most recent statement clarifies that Elona 2 is a sequel to Elona Mobile and claims to be legally sound, it remains problematic that the game uses the title “Elona 2” despite the IP’s owner having explicitly declined its use. At the time of writing, most of the posts made by the Elona 2 PR account on X have received community notes in Japanese about the unauthorized use of the title. 

However, as Noa has commented that they “have no strength to fight” and just wanted to clarify the situation, Elona 2 is likely to release as-is, unless Kunpan Games decide to rename it of their own volition. 

Elona’s official prequel Elin, made by Noa themselves, is currently in development and scheduled for Early Access release on Steam in November 2024.