Japanese entertainment company, Samurai Studio®, the overseas facing real money game studio of NatsumeAtari has joined forces with Swintt through the Malta company’s SwinttStudios partnership program.
Swintt was founded in 2018 as the B2B game studio of the Glitnor Group, purveyors of Lucky Casino and Happy Casino.
NatsumeAtari remains one of only a small handful of Japanese video slot developers with worldwide reach. The company’s historic experience is in the development of pachinko/pachislot machines. Samurai Studio was launched in 2020 to develop slots for the overseas public with the first creations coming the next year with Lightning Jungle (see Youtube video here).
The Japanese company first broke into the US market with an Oddsworks deal that saw its content delivered over the Oddworks’ Betguard remote game server in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan.
NatsumeAtari was originally founded in 1987 simply as Natsume Co. but was rebranded in 2013 after merging with subsidiary Atari. Video game players may be familiar with the Harvest Moon series of video games. We also find references to a land-based partnership with Ainsworth but have not seen games such as the company’s Flamenco Riches, Brave Firefighter, or Marilyn Monroe cabinets distributed widely in the US.
SwinttStudios is an initiative rolled out earlier in 2022 by the UKGC-licensed Swintt that allows boutique software providers large and small to develop and distribute games using the Swintt framework, much like Microgaming Studios and Yggdrasil YGS Masters programs.
Samurai Studio can now access Swintt’s global distribution network and comprehensive back-end tools to extend its global footprint even further and release games in several new markets.
Players in regulated markets worldwide will have the opportunity to play video slots with exquisite graphics and new-to-the-West themes and feature games.
Swintt partner casinos will welcome the addition of new and exclusive content to drive player enjoyment and engagement.
Chief Executive Officer at Swintt, David Mann said: “With NatsumeAtari having only launched Samurai Studio two years ago, we’ve been impressed with what the developer has already achieved in such a short space of time – but with SwinttStudios, we’ll be able to help them reach the next level.
“Having seen the studio’s flair for design and innovation, we’ll now be able to take the nuts and bolts of game logic and product delivery off their hands. This will enable them to make cutting-edge game development their main priority as our distribution network makes sure that the exclusive games they create via the SwinttStudios partnership program reach all the markets where they need to be seen.”
Mitsuhiro Koide, COO at NatsumeAtari, said: “Having founded our company with a mission to spread happiness to everyone involved with NatsumeAtari, we’re delighted the joy we provide to players will now reach even further through our partnership with SwinttStudios.
“By joining forces with Swintt for this exciting venture, our talented team of designers and developers can focus on creating the most immersive and enjoyable games possible while Swintt’s distribution solutions and in-depth industry know-how help us put our product in front of a brand new audience.”
Source: Swintt pens distribution agreement with slot studio founded by NatsumeAtari, Malta, 27 September 2022