Wake Up Interactive announced that the merger between its subsidiaries, Soleil and Valhalla Game Studios, took place on December 24, 2021. This merger leaves Soleil as the surviving company, as it has absorbed all of Valhalla’s assets.
Soleil also published its own press release, which is also available in English. It announced that Valhalla’s CEO Takayuki Kikuchi has now become its chairman and CEO.
Valhalla Game Studios came into existence when Tomonobu Itagaki, the creator of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden, established it in 2008. However, he stepped down from his position as Representative Director in August 2017 and instead became a Prime Advisor. More recently, in January 2021, Itagaki established a new studio with his own name: Itagaki Games.
Valhalla did not have any notable activities since Wake Up Interactive acquired it in 2017. The only games the studio had worked on were Devil’s Third in 2015 and Momotaro Dentetsu 2017 in 2016.
On the contrary, Soleil has been getting more active in recent years. The studio established by former Tecmo staff member Yoshifuru Okamoto is the primary team behind Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker and Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. Soleil also helped GungHo Online Entertainment in developing Ninjala, as well as Marvelous and Grasshopper Manufacture for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes.
After absorbing Valhalla Game Studios, Soleil is now the only known subsidiary company under Wake Up Interactive. Recently in November 2021, Tencent purchased a controlling stake in Soleil’s parent company.
