Tose Software has been providing contract work to the various video game development studios of Japan since 1979. Tose has worked with Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Square Enix and so on, essentially every major publisher in the Japanese gaming industry.
However, Tose often goes uncredited for its contribution to major video games, which means the full scale of the studio’s involvement in triple-A game development isn’t fully known (nice spot, Automaton).
Tose Software has been referred to as a ‘Ghost Developer’ in Japan because of its understated involvement in several major projects.
Japan’s Unsung Hero
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Tales of Graces f Remastered are two recent projects the company recently worked on, but a new document published by Tose suggests the studio has also been working on additional unknown projects for major publishers. In the fiscal year ending August 2025, Tose Software’s biggest client was Atlus, which accounted for 22 per cent of the studio’s revenue (thanks, GameBiz).
The exact projects that Tose Software worked on are unknown, but Atlus released Metaphor: ReFantazio late last year. Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army and Persona 5: The Phantom X were released earlier this year, and a remake of Persona 4 is currently in development. Tose likely worked on one or multiple of these projects.
Tose’s next biggest client was Square Enix, which accounted for almost 17 per cent of the studio’s earnings. Tose and Square Enix have a long history of working together, with Tose having co-developed the aforementioned Tales of Graces f Remastered, as well as Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, Dragon Quest Treasures and many more.
Tose and Square Enix have such a regular working relationship that the former could have been working on any number of projects for the latter during the last fiscal year, but, once again, we know that Tales of Graces f Remastered was one of the projects that Tose worked on last year.
Tose’s next biggest clients, in order, were Bandai Namco Studio, Takara Tomy (toys), Aquaplus (visual novels) and Bandai Namco Entertainment. The practice of using contractors to optimise specific parts of a video game is becoming an increasingly common practice, with a notable recent example being Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Tales of Graces f Remastered
- Released
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January 17, 2025
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
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Tose
