GOG, Resonant Arc, and the Mysterious vanishings of the founders of Quintet

[Skiedragon81]

SO recently today one of my fav podcasts headed up by Casen and Mike began their dive into Terranigma\Tenchi Souzo\The Creation of Heaven and Earth and mentioned that they were going to be airing a live conference call with GOG (owned by CDPR) about possibly getting rights to TN and making it available for US audiences (without emulation) for the first time and ofc around the world as it originally was only released in Japan, Australia and Europe at the time of its release due to Nintendo not wanting to release it here as the Illusion of Gaia did not sell well (it was also heavily edited by NOA), the PS1 coming out and Enix shuddering their American branch. During this pre-convo with GOG there was the talk of rights ownership (and the hope that it would not be the chaos that is the right of Xenosaga) and the belief that Enix, having merged with Square would have the rights to the game. However, like everything in the video game industry, nothing is ever easy. The wrench that could be thrown into it is even know Quintet vanished as a company years ago, some rights may still lie with the original creators -Miyazaki-san specifically. Here is the issue, no one has heard from or have been able to locate these two in over a decade. A little backstory, after Quintet dissolved, Miyazaki-san went to work for another company- GigaWorks I believe it was called- for several years before being boosted up to head up a company dealing with a credit\credit card company known as Kessei com ( i may have misspelled that sry ) long story short, that company collapsed while holding a lot of customer money. Several rumors from Miyazaki-san getting arrested, to fleeing the country to escape prosecution, to getting tangled up with the Yakuza, but one thing is for certain, they vanished without a trace and none have been able to make contact with the 2 founders in over a decade. Im not sure if the contracted Fujiwara is around, ill have to do some diving on him, but i hope they are doing ok
SO heres my question to you dear readers, what do u think happened, or do u have any information to share or collaborate or disprove on the story?
What could have possibly happened to two prolific game devs to make them vanish without a trace?

 

[fake-kun]

SO recently today one of my fav podcasts headed up by Casen and Mike began their dive into Terranigma\Tenchi Souzo\The Creation of Heaven and Earth and mentioned that they were going to be airing a live conference call with GOG (owned by CDPR) about possibly getting rights to TN and making it available for US audiences (without emulation) for the first time and ofc around the world as it originally was only released in Japan, Australia and Europe at the time of its release due to Nintendo not wanting to release it here as the Illusion of Gaia did not sell well (it was also heavily edited by NOA), the PS1 coming out and Enix shuddering their American branch. During this pre-convo with GOG there was the talk of rights ownership (and the hope that it would not be the chaos that is the right of Xenosaga) and the belief that Enix, having merged with Square would have the rights to the game. However, like everything in the video game industry, nothing is ever easy. The wrench that could be thrown into it is even know Quintet vanished as a company years ago, some rights may still lie with the original creators -Miyazaki-san specifically. Here is the issue, no one has heard from or have been able to locate these two in over a decade. A little backstory, after Quintet dissolved, Miyazaki-san went to work for another company- GigaWorks I believe it was called- for several years before being boosted up to head up a company dealing with a credit\credit card company known as Kessei com ( i may have misspelled that sry ) long story short, that company collapsed while holding a lot of customer money. Several rumors from Miyazaki-san getting arrested, to fleeing the country to escape prosecution, to getting tangled up with the Yakuza, but one thing is for certain, they vanished without a trace and none have been able to make contact with the 2 founders in over a decade. Im not sure if the contracted Fujiwara is around, ill have to do some diving on him, but i hope they are doing ok
SO heres my question to you dear readers, what do u think happened, or do u have any information to share or collaborate or disprove on the story?
What could have possibly happened to two prolific game devs to make them vanish without a trace?

They probably just quit the industry and are living normal quiet lives now.

 

[Skiedragon81]

I would like to believe that, but being nailed with multiple felonies in a country that prosecutes with a 99 percent conviction rate throws that into question. Im going to follow this up and talk to some friends in the industry and see what i can uncover/ but the fact that they quit the industry in a country like Japan idk man, i like to believe in happy endings.. but this just feels off. Square probably didnt need them for the Actraiser remake though- which i thought was odd.

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

SO recently today one of my fav podcasts headed up by Casen and Mike began their dive into Terranigma\Tenchi Souzo\The Creation of Heaven and Earth and mentioned that they were going to be airing a live conference call with GOG (owned by CDPR) about possibly getting rights to TN and making it available for US audiences (without emulation) for the first time and ofc around the world as it originally was only released in Japan, Australia and Europe at the time of its release due to Nintendo not wanting to release it here as the Illusion of Gaia did not sell well (it was also heavily edited by NOA), the PS1 coming out and Enix shuddering their American branch. During this pre-convo with GOG there was the talk of rights ownership (and the hope that it would not be the chaos that is the right of Xenosaga) and the belief that Enix, having merged with Square would have the rights to the game. However, like everything in the video game industry, nothing is ever easy. The wrench that could be thrown into it is even know Quintet vanished as a company years ago, some rights may still lie with the original creators -Miyazaki-san specifically. Here is the issue, no one has heard from or have been able to locate these two in over a decade. A little backstory, after Quintet dissolved, Miyazaki-san went to work for another company- GigaWorks I believe it was called- for several years before being boosted up to head up a company dealing with a credit\credit card company known as Kessei com ( i may have misspelled that sry ) long story short, that company collapsed while holding a lot of customer money. Several rumors from Miyazaki-san getting arrested, to fleeing the country to escape prosecution, to getting tangled up with the Yakuza, but one thing is for certain, they vanished without a trace and none have been able to make contact with the 2 founders in over a decade. Im not sure if the contracted Fujiwara is around, ill have to do some diving on him, but i hope they are doing ok
SO heres my question to you dear readers, what do u think happened, or do u have any information to share or collaborate or disprove on the story?
What could have possibly happened to two prolific game devs to make them vanish without a trace?

Oh geez. I always wondered why Quintet stopped making games. They made my favorite SNES games of all time (except Actraiser 2, let's not talk about that one). If they ran afoul of the Yakuza, they are either hiding in Argentina with a fake name or got fitted with cement shoes and their remains are in the bottom of a lake.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2025

They probably just quit the industry and are living normal quiet lives now.

 

[Skiedragon81]

Oh geez. I always wondered why Quintet stopped making games. They made my favorite SNES games of all time (except Actraiser 2, let's not talk about that one). If they ran afoul of the Yakuza, they are either hiding in Argentina with a fake name or got fitted with cement shoes and their remains are in the bottom of a lake.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2025

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I always just found it odd how the site was just abandoned. last update 2/26/02 and then the site fell dead. We also dont have exact numbers about how much money was left behind in Kessai, could have even been a scam, honestly i hope they are ok.

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

I always just found it odd how the site was just abandoned. last update 2/26/02 and then the site fell dead.

How was Actraiser Reborn made, though? Someone had to give them the rights for that remake.

 

[Skiedragon81]

That was my question too. maybe Yuzo Koshiro would know? Maybe Fujiwara gave them the rights, but i thought he was just a contracted artist- so idk, i doubt that would give him any rights.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2025

How was Actraiser Reborn made, though? Someone had to give them the rights for that remake.

When Resonant Arc talks to GOG ill update the post so we can hopefully get a lot more ahem concrete answers.

 

[Stookymalarkey]

Hellava tale! I knew Quintet disappeared but I didn't know one of the founders was facing several felony charges. I hope at least the rights to their games gets settled eventually so newer games can get them through official means.