Toaplan


was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1979. They were responsible for the creation of a wide array of scrolling shooters and other arcade games.

History

Origins

Toaplan was established in 1979 but its gaming division was established by former Orca and Crux members.

1980s

Performan was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Orca and Crux before both companies declared bankruptcy, after which a group of employees from the two gaming divisions would go on to form Toaplan and among them were composers Masahiro Yuge and Tatsuya Uemura, both of which recounted the project's development process and history between 1990 and 2012 through Japanese publications such as Gamest and Shooting Gameside.

1990s

In 1992, Yoshiyuki Kiyomoto stepped down from his position as CEO at Toaplan, with Taizo Hayashi now serving as the company's president. Toaplan provivded consultance and advising to Raizing during development of Sorcer Striker, as well as licensing their arcade board to the company, since the president of the latter company previously served as an employee of the former. Snow Bros. 2: With New Elves served as one of the final projects to be developed by Toaplan, as the company ceased development of shoot 'em up games prior to their closure.

2010s

The rights to nearly every Toaplan IP are currently owned by Tatsujin, a Japanese company formed by Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia.
In 2019, Japanese company M2 announced that in 2020 they will release every game by Toaplan for consoles in Japan.

Staff and design philosophy

Various individuals have been important figures in the history of Toaplan:
The company declared bankruptcy on March 31, 1994. Its closure led to the formation of several offshoot companies.

Companies spun off from Toaplan

After Toaplan closed its doors in 1994, several former employees formed or were involved with the following companies, many of which were dedicated to arcade shooters:

Games

Developed

Published

Cancelled