“Human, collaborative, ambitious” – the roadmap for Marvelous Europe

pcgamesinsider.biz:

Publisher Marvelous recently celebrated its tenth anniversary in Europe. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marvelous Inc, Japanese developer of the Story Of Seasons (originally branded in the west as Harvest Moon) and Rune Factory series.

The team has grown recently and is refocusing its vision, so at Gamescom last month PCGamesInsider.biz took the opportunity to interview the European leaders about their strategy.

Marvelous Europe is now actively signing indie projects to release, the first being Hungary-developed Mandragora for release in 2023 with more PC titles planned, such as The Last Alchemist (pictured above). It's also extending its incubator, mentorship and brand partnerships initiatives.

We sat down with Marc Melton (managing director) and Sarah Burns (head of production and operations) on the busy trade show floor to talk about the company’s vision. “We have a lot of autonomy to make a difference in Europe, and that’s a real luxury compared to other companies,” explains Melton, speaking of the relationship with HQ in Japan.

Both have a background in the broader entertainment industry, moving into games publishing after many years of work in film and TV. Melton has been at Marvelous for three years, after a stint at Konami, and Burns for two years after spells at Jagex, Miniclip and Numskull.

PCGamesInsider.biz: Can you talk a little bit about the refocusing of the business now – what you’re changing and why?Marc Melton: We have an idea of the company that we wanted to work for. We have to balance the commercial imperatives of making money and taking risks with different brands and games.

Marvelous’s identity had an appeal to a certain audience. I took a bit of a jump for Marvelous, and then a couple