Examu announced that they are ceasing operations on games and software development, as well as arcade support at the end of February, 2020. They will hand off all additional work to Team Arcana.
The announcement was made over on the official Examu website, where the company announced that after being established in March of 2007, they will no longer be in business. The 13 year journey is coming to an end.
The reason for the closure is stated to be a steady decrease in business over the years.
A paraphrased translation was shared by SieKensou77.
— SieKensou77 (@sie_kensou77) February 10, 2020
This comes shortly after Mickey Lin announced that development on Chaos Code NEXT was being brought to an end.
Originally we didn’t know why it was ending because the official explanation given by the company didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
However, YouTuber Fullscreen Bossfight linked to a Google document published on February 10th, 2020 containing an English translation and explanation from Mickey Lin as to why he’s ceasing development on Chaos Code NEXT.
Lin wrote…
“[…] Lack of human resources and budget were always the long-term issue for the company – however the real reason why FKD had to make this tough decision is because of my current mental condition to the level that I cannot continue this job anymore.
“If you have been following me or Chaos Code for many years, you may know that this title was created by myself – Mickey, together with my younger brother – Michael. Back in 2016, we announced the very first trailer of “Chaos Code NEXT” at Toushinsai (a major e-sports event in Japan).
“Unfortunately, my brother Michael then passed away on 2017/12/25, due to illness. And we never made this sad news public, not even to the employees of FKD.
“After I lost my brother, who was also the main director and the main force of Chaos Code development team, there were many times I thought of giving up the whole thing, but “Chaos Code NEXT” was the complete version of Chaos Code, and it was always our dream, for both Michael and myself, to fully finish the development of this title. To achieve this dream, people I really cared and loved supported me, and gave me the motivation to keep up. But recently, I lost their support, too.
“2 years ago, I made the difficult decision to continue chasing our dream. And it was even more painful decision today. This decision would have disappointed many people for sure, but I mentally really cannot hold anymore. From the very first fighting game Michael and I made – Fighter’s Kyodotai, then Fighter’s Kyodotai Flash, Super Cosplay War Ultra, and till Chaos Code, for 20+ years we never stopped making fighting games, My brother already took rest 2 years ago, maybe it is time for me to take a break now.” […]
The rest of the document explains that the door isn’t completely shut on coming back to and finishing Chaos Code NEXT.
For now, however, it doesn’t look like Mickey Lin is feeling the passion to keep developing the game.
Sadly, Examu is also exiting the business after helping produce arcade games like Samurai Shodown V and the Arcana Heart series. At least on the upside in Examu’s case, fans of Arcana Heart will continue to receive new entries in the series so long as Team Arcana is willing to put in the work.
(Thanks for the news tip SieKensou77)
