![]() T&E Soft logo | |
Native name | 株式会社ティーアンドイーソフト |
---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-Gaisha Tīandoīsofuto |
Type | Kabushiki gaisha |
Founded | October 14, 1982
[1] ("old company") January 21, 2008 [2] ("new company") |
Defunct | January 2013 ("new company") |
Fate | Merged with Spike Chunsoft |
Headquarters | Nagoya, Japan |
Website |
www.tes.co.jp (archived) www.tandesoft.co.jp (archived) dwonderland |
T&E Soft Incorporated (株式会社ティーアンドイーソフト, Kabushiki-Gaisha Tīandoīsofuto) was a Japanese-based video game developer founded in 1982. [3] Although they have made games with a wide variety of genres, they are primarily known in the U.S. for their golf and puzzle video games. [4]
The original company exists today under the name of Daikokuya Global Holding Co., Ltd but is not currently engaged in game development. [5] A company named Deep Co., Ltd. acquired T&E Soft 's trademark rights on April 22, 2005, to continue game development which would go on until January 2013.
Founded in 1982, T&E Soft Co., Ltd was initially named after the founder's older brother Toshiro Yokoyama and his younger brother Eiji Yokoyama, but later changed the abbreviation to "Tri & Exciting" and eventually "Technology & Entertainment".
T&E Soft started activities by selling games for NEC's PC-6001 series. Beginning in 1983, it developed games for multiple models other than the PC-6001. In December 1983, T&E Soft published its own magazine to promote its products and by January 1985 launched its newsletter that would last until July 1990. In October 1990, Xtalsoft was merged with T&E Soft and became T&E SOFT Osaka Development Department.
The company became famous for its 8-bit personal computer games including the Hydlide series. It entered the home video game console in March 1986 with the in-house development of the Family Computer software Hydlide Special which was released by Toshiba EMI. Since the success of the Super Famicom software Harukanaru Augusta, released in April 1991, T&E Soft gradually moved away from personal computers to focus on its titles for video game consoles. At some point, Square founder Masafumi Miyamoto was the majority shareholder of T&E Soft. [6]
In May 2002, T&E Soft Corporation changed its name to D Wonderland Inc. [3]
In April 2005, Deep Co., Ltd. acquired the trademark rights of the T & E Soft name. In January 2006, Digital Golf Co., Ltd. absorbed Deep Co., Ltd. and established a game development branch in Nagoya under the brand name of T&E Soft.
The development department of Digital Golf in Nagoya was eventually split off into its own company T&E Soft Co. , Ltd on January 21, 2008. The following week on January 30, Games Arena Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Dwango Co., Ltd.) announced that it would acquire all issued shares of T&E Soft Co., Ltd.
Chunsoft and Spike, which Games Arena had both previously acquired on individual basis, merged in April 2012 to form Spike Chunsoft. The new T&E Soft Co., Ltd was absorbed and merged with Spike Chunsoft in January 2013. (Games Arena had itself dissolved in June 2012).
In January 2015, D Wonderland (the "old" T&E Soft) changed its company name to Daikokuya Global Holding Co., Ltd. [7] [8]
On March 4, 2019, D4 Enterprise announced that it has acquired the intellectual property rights of the T&E Soft game content. [9]
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