Metap, developer of free-to-play NFT-based RPG Gensokishi Online (the Web3-powered successor of the classic MMORPG Elemental Knights Online), reported on April 21 that it’s planning to transfer operational rights to Japanese company Hanabitei. This comes just two months after Metap announced that it would shut down the game’s servers on April 30 amidst financial difficulties.
While it’s nothing new in the industry to see companies buying out troubled live-service games, what’s peculiar about this case is that Hanabitei is a venture established entirely by fans in order to keep the game alive. Known under the usernames Kurokage and Alamode, the two players and members of the in-game guild “Hanabitei” are currently taking legal steps to register their company in preparation for inheriting the operational rights to Gensokishi Online.
As reported by Famitsu, Metap and Hanabitei are currently in discussion towards forming a formal contract, which is scheduled to be signed by early May. After the contract has been signed, development will kick off according to a newly devised reboot plan made to improve operational costs and revenue. If everything goes smoothly, the game is expected to re-launch under Hanabitei sometimes between August and September this year.
Back when the shutdown of the game was announced in February, Metap explained that they had been looking for means to transfer operational rights to a third party or migrate to another owner. According to the company, they settled on signing a contract with Hanabitei because, “considering [Kurokage and Alamode’s] past contributions and achievements within the game, […] they are a reliable and ideal partner for the operational transfer.”
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