Toei—one of Japan’s most powerful entertainment companies and the name behind generations of anime and film—has officially entered video game publishing with a new in-house label: Toei Games. The plan is to start on PC via Steam in 2026, expand to consoles (PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch) later, and—here’s the headline twist—build entirely new IP instead of leaning on legacy giants like Dragon Ball, One Piece, Digimon, or Sailor Moon.
The first Toei Games title will be revealed April 24, 2026, and if Toei’s ambition matches its resources, Japanese game publishing just got a serious new heavyweight.
A New “Pillar” for Toei—and a Big Swing at the Global Games Market
Toei isn’t treating this like a side hustle. President and CEO Fumio Yoshimura has framed games as a core strategic expansion—something Toei intends to “clearly position… as a ‘new pillar’” alongside its long-established businesses in movies, television, and events.
That language matters. Plenty of major media companies “dabble” in games; far fewer build a dedicated label and publicly declare it foundational. Toei is also explicitly tying this move to its medium-to-long-term strategy, “Toei New Wave 2033,” which aims to deliver Toei’s stories to the entire world. Yoshimura describes games—correctly—as a uniquely global entertainment medium that crosses language and borders, and positions Toei Games as an embodiment of that global push.
The subtext is hard to miss: Toei believes it can translate decades of production know-how into interactive entertainment, and it wants to do it on the world stage, not just as a domestic experiment.
Steam First, Consoles Later—And a Reveal Date Locked In
Toei Games’ initial release strategy is straightforward: PC first, primarily via Steam, with console support planned once the label finds its footing. Multiple platform families are already on the table—PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch are all explicitly referenced as part of the eventual console expansion.
As for when we’ll see the first project: Toei Games will announce its first title on April 24, 2026. That’s the only hard date currently confirmed. A release window for that first game has not been announced yet, and neither has pricing.
This is the part I love: Toei didn’t launch the label and ask fans to wait a year for a vague “sometime later” tease. It’s moving quickly—at least on the reveal cadence—and that suggests the first project is already far enough along to show publicly.
No Dragon Ball, No One Piece: Toei Games Is Betting on New IP
If you heard “Toei” and immediately pictured a new Dragon Ball fighter or a big-budget One Piece action RPG, you’re not alone. Toei’s catalog is a licensing goldmine, and the modern games industry is addicted to recognizable brands.
Toei Games is explicitly rejecting that easy path—at least at the start.
Yoshimura’s statement is unambiguous: “Toei Games aims to create entirely new IPs from scratch, rather than simply utilizing existing IPs.” The company says it will leverage the technology and expertise cultivated through video production to deliver Toei’s “unique entertainment experience” to players worldwide.
There’s also a clear creative positioning: these won’t be small, insular projects built only for Japan. Toei has said it plans to create games with creators both domestic and international, emphasizing collaboration across Japan and abroad.
That’s a gutsy stance—and, frankly, a refreshing one. In a market where “safe” often means “sequel” and “brand synergy,” Toei is trying to manufacture the next obsession rather than repackage the last one. It’s also a tacit acknowledgement that existing Toei-related game licensing is already a crowded, complicated ecosystem—one where expectations are sky-high and comparisons are inevitable.
Toei is choosing to compete on a different axis: new worlds, new characters, new hooks.
The Kairosoft Logo Is a Brilliant Signal: Tradition, Reimagined for Games
Toei Games’ branding is more than a corporate logo slap. The label’s mark is a pixel-art take on Toei’s iconic opening sequence, “Waves on the Rough Shore,” the famous waves-and-rocks imagery that has appeared at the start of Toei films since 1958.
And the creator is a fun, telling choice: Kairosoft Inc.—the studio known for sprite-based simulation games like Game Dev Story and Dungeon Village—designed the Toei Games logo. Toei Games’ logo is essentially a pixel animation version of that classic Toei opener, bridging the company’s film legacy with game culture in a way that feels intentional rather than corporate.
Kairosoft CEO Kairo-kun even offered a playful comment about having “sleepless nights” while designing a logo for an industry “tossed about by rough waves,” before celebrating the finished mark as a “new beginning.”
It’s a small detail, but it lands: Toei is presenting itself as a legacy titan that understands games have their own language—and it’s willing to meet that language on its own terms.
Why This Could Reshape Japanese Game Publishing (If Toei Executes)
Japan’s game publishing landscape is strong right now, with major players thriving—but that doesn’t make it easy for a newcomer to break in, even a newcomer with Toei’s scale. Still, Toei has three advantages that could make Toei Games a genuine force rather than a vanity label:
Global storytelling DNA
Toei has spent decades producing stories and characters that travel internationally. Even if Toei Games isn’t using existing IP, that institutional muscle—how to build icons, how to pace drama, how to market emotion—can translate.A stated commitment to worldwide creators
“Creators in Japan and abroad” isn’t just PR fluff if Toei actually funds and empowers international development partnerships. If it does, Toei Games could become a new bridge between Japanese publishing capital and global talent.A clean slate
By not starting with Dragon Ball or One Piece, Toei Games avoids the immediate trap of “this doesn’t feel like the anime” or “this isn’t as good as the last licensed game.” New IP lives or dies on its own merits—which is risky, but also liberating.
Of course, the flip side is brutal: new IP is hard. Discoverability is expensive. And the moment Toei Games reveals its first project, it’s going to be judged not like a scrappy indie label, but like what it is—a new division of a massive entertainment company with towering expectations.
That’s the price of entering the arena as a “juggernaut.”
What Remains Unknown
Even with the label officially announced and a reveal date set, there are still major unanswered questions:
- What is Toei Games’ first title? Genre, scope, art style, and developer details haven’t been announced yet.
- Who is developing the games? Toei has said it will collaborate with creators in Japan and abroad, but no specific studios or partners have been named.
- Release timing and pricing for the first game are still unconfirmed.
- Console timing is vague: consoles are planned, but there’s no confirmed window for PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch releases.
- How Toei Games will operate internally—whether it will also develop games in-house beyond publishing—has not been clearly detailed.
April 24 is the next big checkpoint. That first reveal won’t just show what Toei Games is making—it’ll show what kind of player Toei intends to be in the games industry: cautious and conventional, or bold enough to match its “captivate the world” mission statement.
