Jaleco Ltd. (株式会社ジャレコ, Kabushiki Kaisha Jareko) was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed to simply Jaleco in the early 1980s. This company was later acquired in 2000 by Hong Kong company PCCW, who rebranded it as their Japanese game division, PCCW Japan, before reverting it to Jaleco in 2002. In 2006, Jaleco became independent from PCCW and renamed to Jaleco Holding, having their video game operations spun off into a new company, also called Jaleco. This new spin-off company was sold to mobile developer Game Yarou in 2009, with Jaleco Holding renaming itself to Encom Holdings shortly after.
Jaleco is known for its arcade and home console video games produced in the 1980s and early 1990s, including City Connection, Bases Loaded, Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, Exerion, Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai and Rushing Beat. Jaleco also produced arcade cabinets for other game developers, alongside redemption arcade games and UFO catcher claw machines. In the past, the company produced amusement park equipment and aquarium parts, under their JAQNO brand name. Their North American division, Jaleco USA, published a number of titles for the NES and SNES, including Maniac Mansion, Pinball Quest and R-Type III.
In 2014, Jaleco's parent company Game Yarou filed for bankruptcy, causing Jaleco to vanish from the video game industry. The company's video game assets would be purchased by City Connection, an indie Japanese studio that continues to use their games for other side projects and licensing deals (the company itself being named after one of Jaleco's games). The original Jaleco company, Encom Holdings, quit the video game business in 2009, citing stiff competition in the industry, instead dealing in real estate. Encom dissolved in 2013, and was delisted from the JASDAQ that same year.
History
Jaleco was founded by Japanese businessman Yoshiaki Kanazawa on October 3, 1974. They were originally known as the Japan Leisure Co., Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンレジャー, Kabushiki-gaisha Japan Rejā), producing equipment for both amusement parks and arcade centers across Japan. The company was originally based out of Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.
Japan Leisure began production of arcade video games by 1982, and changed their corporate name to Jaleco, taking the first two letters of each word of "Japan Leisure Co.", in March 1983. Jaleco began production of home console video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan. Towards the mid-1980s, Jaleco would begin production of equipment for aquarium tanks, which were released under their JAQNO brand name. A North American office, Jaleco USA, operated in Northbrook, Illinois.[1] This division sometimes published other third-party video games for both the NES and SNES consoles, notably Maniac Mansion and R-Type III, alongside distribution of Jaleco video games in the United States.[2][3]
By 2000, Jaleco was struggling financially, being unable to produce a hit video game in several years. To keep the company afloat, Jaleco was acquired by Hong Kong-based company PCCW in November 2000, where they became the Japanese division of the company, renamed to PCCW Japan.[4] Heavy company restructuring was performing, with Jaleco's arcade division shuttering in April 2001[5] while retaining their home console video game division. In April 2001, PCCW Japan purchased the VR-1 Group, the holder of North American MMO developer VR-1 Entertainment, in order to have their operations expand globally. In October 2002, PCCW Japan merged Jaleco USA and VR-1 Entertainment into a new company, Jaleco Entertainment, relocating to Buffalo, New York. PCCW Japan was renamed back to Jaleco in 2004. They would continue to operate for several years as a subsidiary of PCCW, producing video games for home consoles and Japanese mobile phones, alongside soundtrack albums and applications for web browsers.
In August 2005, PCCW sold off Jaleco to Sandringham Fund SPC, alongside the subsidiary company Hyperlink Investments Group. By July 2006, the company was renamed to Jaleco Holding and became a holding company.[6] The video game operations were then spun off into a new company known as Jaleco, which would become a subsidiary of Jaleco Holding.[6] The corporate restructure was done to reflect the company's diversified portfolio which no longer limited to video games and included activities such as real estate and financial services.[7] In October 2007, Hyperlink Investments Group sold its stock in Jaleco Holding to Game Yarou, a Japanese mobile phone developer, and two South Korean corporations, STIC Pioneer Fund and A2i. Jaleco Holdings dissolved two subsidiary companies, FFBC Investment and J Consulting, in early 2008. Jaleco's North American division, Jaleco Entertainment, closed their doors later that year.
In January 2009, Jaleco Holding sold Jaleco to Game Yarou for ¥1 (US$0.01), but Game Yarou also assumed ¥700,000,000 ($7.736 million) of Jaleco Holding's ¥16,000,000,000 ($17.68 million) debt.[8] A spokesperson for Jaleco Holding cited "increasing competition in recent years in the video game market" as the reason for the company's departure from the industry.[9] Jaleco Holding renamed itself to Encom Holdings the same year in April, focusing on real estate and finance business in Japan and no longer being involved with video games. Encom Holdings dissolved on May 13, 2013, due to poor reputation and loss of income.
Under ownership of Game Yarou, Jaleco produced video games for Japanese mobile phones and web browsers, alongside licensing many of their older video games to third-party developers for use in other projects. One of the game titles that was released by Jaleco under this ownership was Ougon no Kizuna for the Wii, which was released in May 2009.[10]
By 2012, Game Yarou was in financial crisis due to high debt and poor sales of their mobile titles – they were officially declared bankrupt by the Tokyo District Court on May 21, 2014. Jaleco would soon vanish from the video game industry, with their video games being acquired later that year by Japanese company City Connection, formerly known as Clarice Disk. The company continues to use Jaleco video games for a number of projects, alongside licensing them out to other developers for use in other products.
12"会社分割による純粋持株会社体制への移行について"[Transition to a pure holding company structure through company split](PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original(PDF) on September 4, 2006.
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