For those who have played visual novels, MAGES may be a familiar name to you. They were a subsidiary of Kadokawa under their Dwango brand. Chiyomaru Shikura, the Game Director for MAGES, initiated and completed a management buyout of the company by acquiring all of the company’s shares. He is also the representing director for Chiyomaru Studio, which he founded in 2015. Both Chiyomaru Studio and MAGES will consolidate its 5pb. brand into one single brand under the MAGES banner.
This means that the studio has gone completely independent. Doing so will allow for more freedom in making their business decisions. While MAGES will no longer be under Kadokawa, they noted that they look to continue a positive relationship with their former parent company.
MAGES has famously produced visual novels such as Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, Skip Beat!, Memories Off, Muv-Luv, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, and many others!
