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 ESP's former headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo | |
Native name | 株式会社エンターテインメント ソフトウェア パブリッシング |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-gaisha Entāteinmento Sofutō~ea Paburisshingu |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | November 1997 |
| Defunct | 1 April 2010 |
| Fate | Merged with D3 Publisher |
| Headquarters | Shibuya, Tokyo , Japan |
Key people | Youichi Miyaji (president) |
| Products | |
| Parent |
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| Website | esp-web.co.jp (archived) |
Entertainment Software Publishing, Inc.[a] (ESP) was a Japanese video game publisher headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1997 as a publisher for games developed by the Game Developers Network (GD-NET). GD-NET, which included companies such as Treasure and Game Arts, was established due to concerns over smaller developers not having the same financial backing like larger game companies did, as production of console games was beginning to rise. ESP was best known for publishing shoot 'em ups and role-playing games. While primarily a publisher, ESP also developed a handful of games internally.
ESP primarily published games for the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. When both systems met their demise, the company started shifting operations towards consoles such as the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS. ESP was purchased by Game Arts in 2002 and became its publishing division. In 2004, ESP was sold to D3 Publisher, which had noticed ESP's track record and lineup of well-received titles. ESP was merged with D3 Publisher and its parent company, D3 Inc., in 2010.
Many games that were published by ESP, including Grandia, Radiant Silvergun, and the Bangai-O series, have received praise from critics. Several have sold well and have been ranked among the best in their genres. In the past, ESP helped co-publish several Japanese massively multiplayer online video games, and also collaborated with other game companies on various projects.
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