Happy New Year everyone, 2023 – full of positivity! Without further ado here’s a look into what’s to come from us and our partners in the first half of the year, which we’re very excited to bring to fans all across Europe! NIS America Raiden IV x MIKADO remix R-Type Final 3 Evolved Void Terrarium 2 The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie YS IX: Monstrum Nox From Shoot-em-ups/Schmups including: Raiden IV x MIKADO remix and R-Type Final 3 Evolved, to in depth, lore laden RPGs of The Legend of Heroes series of games, to my personal favourite Ys IX: Monstrum Nox releasing now on the PlayStation®5, we have a lot to be excited about from NIS America in 2023! These are just some of the great titles coming from NIS America this year. Please stay tuned for after the NIS 30th Anniversary where we’ll have plenty more upcoming games to talk about!😊 We’re happy to be consistently bringing out best of retro to the latest in long running, well loved NIS America titles and franchises to everyone! Idea Factory Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters (released 24th Jan 2023) Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord Dokapon Kingdom Connect Exciting times for us and our partners at Idea Factory with another brand new entry in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters, having just released (24th Jan!). The title is great fun, brings real-time action to fans, and is depicted in an exciting new way for the series, with a great, fun filled story to boot! Lots of genre variety here! Idea Factory and ourselves are literally bringing the party with Dokapon Kingdom: Connect – a fantastic new party game with RPG elements play your friends in person or online for the first time! For those who want to delve deep into some tactical- strategy this Spring can do so with Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord, a long awaited follow up in a very well loved series, delving into a new genre for the first time! Aksys Games Cuddly Forest Friend Norn9: Var Commons Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo The AKSYS game line-up is continuing to expand and diversify, not only can you go on plenty of dates this year with your new favourite Otome’s, animal lovers can also spend plenty of time nurturing hope in Cuddly Forest, a great party/ sim game (out 2nd Feb)! Fans have plenty to satiate their appetite for Otome with a couple of great releases in Norn9 and Winter’s Wish! Both are told from different and exciting perspectives, and they’re sure to appeal to a wide variety of fans! Koei Tecmo Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key We’re incredibly happy to keep getting out some of the best Koei titles to our European fans, and this year is no exception! The wait is almost up for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and fans of difficult but rewarding Action RPG’s have something very special to look forward to here! JRPG fans will be eagerly awaiting Atelier Ryza 3’s release, which continues this well loved saga with a plethora of exciting characters and gameplay systems. These are few of the standout highlights from what’s to come in the first half of this year, and we can’t wait to update everyone on future titles coming once we have even more information to share! Happy New Year, and happy gaming everyone!

Merry Christmas, everyone! The Holiday Season is a time for joy and celebration, but also a time for reflection. Looking back at the amazing year Reef Entertainment has had, one thing is abundantly clear: 2022 truly was the Year of Otome! Through our partnerships with Idea Factory International and Aksys Games, Reef Entertainment was able to distribute 7 otome titles in Europe in 2022: - Lover Pretend - Paradigm Paradox - Piofiore: Episodio 1926 - Amnesia: Later X Crowd - Amnesia: Memories - Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei - Variable Barricade Our talented video team grew exponentially in the past year, and they did countless otome streams in 2022, including playthroughs, giveaways, and more, allowing us to engage with the ever-growing fanbase of the genre. Otome games are continuing to grow in popularity in the West, and through our partnerships and online/streaming presence, we are honoured to have played such a prominent role in helping get these games to as many European fans as possible. We hope everyone looks forward to the really exciting line-up coming in 2023, including more exciting titles from our partner Aksys Games, who have announced an incredible line-up, including: Winter’s Wish, Jack Jeanne, Radiant Tale and later on in the year, the highly anticipated Virche Evermore -Error: Salvation-. As 2022 draws to a close, it’s important to not only look back, but also look toward the future. Reef Entertainment are extremely proud to have worked with our valued partners Idea Factory International and Aksys Games on so many otome games in the past year, and look forward to working with them on everything 2023 brings, otome and all.

Reef Entertainment are excited to announce the launch of the new EU online store for our valued partner, Idea Factory International. Stock will now be shipping directly from our brand new Hungarian Distribution Centre to help expedite and ease the process for our EU fans and customers. Our UK and EU direct-to-consumer stores are now separate to streamline the VAT/tax process for our customers. All EU customers will now place their orders through the EU Site to ensure tax is taken at the time of purchase. Reef’s growth over recent years has allowed us to open our new Distribution Centre in Hungary, enabling us to best serve our valued EU customers. This new Distribution Centre has allowed us to launch new EU online stores for our other partners too, having recently launched the new EU online stores for KOEI Tecmo, NIS America and Aksys Games. This means that our European customers are able to buy all their favourite games and merch from these stores without having to worry about customs issues that may arise. As a prominent video game publisher and distributor in Europe, Reef is committed to providing our EU fans with the most seamless and convenient customer experience possible.

Our partner Aksys Games recently announced that the highly anticipated visual novel and rhythm game Jack Jeanne will receive three Limited Editions in addition to the Standard Edition. Created by noted manga artist Sui Ishida (Tokyo Ghoul), Jack Jeanne will launch in June 2023 for Nintendo Switch™! Exclusive to our direct-to-consumer website, the Bronze Limited Edition features an 80-page hardcover art book, collectible pins of each Univeil Drama School class, a Univeil school scarf, and an acrylic diorama. Alternatively, customers can choose a more premium version in the Silver Limited Edition which includes a crossbody pack, or both the pack and t-shirt with iconic character art in the Gold Limited Edition! All editions are available to pre-order now. Through our partnership with Aksys Games, we have distributed many visual novels to fans in Europe over the years via our online store. The audience for visual novels has grown exponentially in recent years, and Jack Jeanne is a very highly-anticipated title in the genre. This growing fanbase has allowed us to work on increasingly creative and unique Limited Editions, giving fans a wide variety of custom merchandise, artwork, apparel and more to go alongside their favourite games.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, developed by our partner Idea Factory International and published by Reef Entertainment in Europe, is set to release on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5 and Steam in early 2023. Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is the latest entry in the iconic Neptunia series, known for its meta-humour and very popular characters. The game is set in Gamindustri, a continent which has been taken over by the latest smartphone to hit the market (the rPhone), and tells the story of Nepgear and the other Goddess Candidates as they try to save their home from the clutches of this new technology. To celebrate the game’s upcoming release, in partnership with Idea Factory International, we’ve been running the ‘rPhone campaign’, giving fans of the series the opportunity to receive texts and phone calls from characters in the game. By texting the word "PUDDING" to +44 7458 155255, fans will opt in to the campaign to intermittently receive text messages addressed from Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters characters, as well as occasional phone calls from the characters featuring pre-recorded messages delivered by their actual voice actors! Check out https://ificalls.me/uk.html for the full terms and conditions of the rPhone campaign.

We hope you enjoyed our partner NIS America’s livestream with Granzella Inc. In case you missed it, two exciting titles were revealed: R-Type® Final 3 Evolved and R-Type® Tactics I • II Cosmos! See below for details on these games, and watch the full livestream on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nisamerica R-Type® Final 3 Evolved R-Type Final 3 Evolved unites R-Type Final 2 and the PS5™! Coming in Spring 2023, this version includes exclusive stages created by Kazuma Kujo, all of the homage stages from the first Stage Pass, and update Version 2.0.0 which contains new playable ships, a new multiplayer mode, global rankings, and more! Through our direct-to-consumer online store, we will be offering both a Deluxe Edition and Special Edition for this title to fans across Europe, with pre-orders going live on the 4th of November. R-Type® Tactics I • II Cosmos R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is coming to Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5 and PC in Summer 2023. R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos combines the side-scrolling, shoot-'em-up action the series is known for with tactical, turn-based strategy gameplay. This collection includes two titles that have remade in Unreal Engine 5, and marks R-Type Tactics II’s debut in the West! R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos also features a number of exclusive features for R-Type Tactics II, including branching missions and a new third campaign. You will be able to pre-order R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos on our online store at a later date.

Our partner NIS America just revealed several exciting Nihon Falcom announcements in the past week, including new ports and localisations, release date announcements, a voice actor livestream, and a giveaway of a custom controller on Twitter! Nihon Falcom is a game developer founded in 1981 that has created many titles for consumer game platforms and boasts an extremely enthusiastic fanbase worldwide. In partnership with NIS America, our team has distributed many Nihon Falcom titles to a variety of regions across Europe, including numerous games from the extremely popular Ys and Trails series. Through our direct-to-consumer website and YouTube/social media channels, our Social Media team has been sharing these announcements with fans across Europe, and our dedicated PR Team has shared all the news with numerous European media outlets, ensuring it gets as much coverage as possible. In partnership with NIS America, we ran a contest on our Twitter account to give away a custom-designed Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA PS5 controller to a lucky fan in Europe! We have worked together with our partners on many giveaways and contests throughout the years, exciting fans with Limited and Deluxe Editions, as well as custom merchandise for all their favourite titles. Find out more about Falcom Week announcements on our direct-to-consumer website here: https://store.nisaeurope.com/ Check out our official Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/nisaineurope/

Our partner, Aksys Games, announced a slew of new games and localisations in the livestream, and our talented video team co-streamed the event with live commentary! One of the most exciting announcements of the livestream was Tengoku Struggle -Strayside- being localised in the West for the first time. Tengoku Struggle -Strayside- is an otome game, a genre focused on developing romantic connections with the characters, as well as deep, heartfelt storytelling. Originating in Japan, the otome genre has seen a boom in popularity in the West in recent years, and has developed a very dedicated online following. Through our partnership with Aksys Games, we have brought many otome games to market in Europe through our direct-to-consumer website, and our marketing team has promoted these games to the genre’s ever-growing fanbase through social media and blog posts. Our expanding video team streams many otome titles on our Twitch channel (@reefgameslive), engaging fans of the genre with live playthroughs, otome Q&As and more. We have distributed two Aksys otome titles in Europe in 2022 (Variable Barricade and Piofiore: Episodio 1926), with two more Aksys otome releases coming up later this year (Paradigm Paradox and Lover Pretend). Over the years, our partnership with Aksys Games has allowed us to become one of the most prevalent distributors of the otome genre in Europe. For anyone who missed the ALL AKSYS livestream, you can check it out here: https://www.twitch.tv/AksysGames Our ReefGamesLive ALL AKSYS commentary stream can be found here: https://www.twitch.tv/reefgameslive

EGX 2022 Blog Post Reef Entertainment were lucky enough to attend EGX 2022, courtesy of Reedpop. Thursday 22nd Sept 2022, Me and my fantastic colleague Don arrived at the event a good bit of time before official opening at 10am. Coffees in tow, and excitement for the show was palpable. Lines, at this time larger for the “StarCoffee” chain than the show were essential for all attendees before heading on in. There we met a couple who were excited for some Sonic! – is this the year for the blue blur once again!?! (Our Frontiers demo later in the day…says maybe!) Seeing the crowds and fans back at gaming events, along with the industry vets…great to see, and that isn’t even mentioning the great outfits (cosplay) on display, adding greatly to the mise en scene. The weather held up really well (after a long, hot summer, the surprises keep coming to the UK, given how we’ve been steam rolled into winter now!!), so we already had a spring in our step, and that continued throughout the day. Just before heading in we bumped into a ReedPop staff member, who we had the pleasure of talking with later in the day, looking to join work together at another point, which will be great! Entering the Excel Centre, there was the buzz and excitement that is always felt at gaming events, with all eyes on the new, and revisiting classics via tournaments, merchandise or in the example of Nintendo a plethora of plenty of set ups with their most recent titles on display. The event was very well organised, with staff being incredibly kind, and attentive to everyone there. Great stands full of indie titles, triple AAA publishers coming out (such as Capcom and Sega), along with many merchandise stands for fans of all things gaming, anime and the like! It wouldn’t be a gaming convention without the obligatory free hand outs of energy drink (plenty of interesting flavours to fuel the day)…and the queues being comparable to some of the bigger titles! We talked to a variety of independent developers, some only just out of university! Was great talking with them, and seeing a variety of upcoming talent. Our team is committed to bringing more interesting and unique titles into the hands of people everywhere, so this was a really good opportunity to see the talented individuals making great projects all over the UK. With our focus as a team on Japanese titles as well, both with distribution and publishing here in the UK, it was really good to see that there were plenty of Japanese companies showing their wares at the event (Capcom, Sega and our good friends at Koei Tecmo too). Wo Long, and Street Fighter 6 had consistent queues, showing the fervour for games from Japanese companies – as well as showing long running franchises, in the case of Street Fighter 6, still appealing to a very wide fan base. Our team attended “A SPEEDRUN THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS” talk which was hosted incredibly well, with industry veterans really helping the wider game development community, along with gamers, to understand the importance of copyright. Merchandise, which really ran the gauntlet of everything from gaming, anime, films and beyond - was on display. There was lots of people clamouring for items based on their favourite properties en-mass! Reef specialises in a lot of fantastic Limited Edition’s, along with merchandise that goes alongside our partners titles, that we feel would work fantastically well in this environment. Bringing something to the show in future would be fantastic for fans and our business alike. We feel our products would complement this already fantastic show. One of the biggest takeaways from the show was the diversity of titles on display, a dedicated retro area, also showing that people are excited to delve into the past to face new adversaries (friends and new friends alike). ReedPop really put on a fantastic show with incredibly well thought out layout choices, to give everyone, from every gaming walk of life something to talk about and be excited for. Whether it was new, old, or leaning into new technologies like VR there was something there for everyone. Game Highlights Indie Titles: Uso AAA: Street Fighter 6 Retro Area shout outs: Wave Race (Gamecube), Joust and Mario 64. Closing thoughts Our team was incredibly grateful to come down and experience the event, courtesy of the kind people at ReedPop. Both the public, press and industry had plenty of smiles on their faces, and everyone at the show made the whole experience inclusive, and an incredibly fun and welcoming place to be. Thank you everyone involved for making a very impressive and interesting show. There was lots to do and watch for everyone who attended, and to that we say it was a giant success.

The otome visual novel, Amnesia: Memories, and its companion compilation, Amnesia: Later x Crowd, are out now on Nintendo Switch™! These games were developed by Design Factory and published by our valued partner, Idea Factory International. This release marks the first time that Amnesia: Later x Crowd has been localised for Western audiences. Our video team at Reef scripted and produced a trailer for the game, entitled “Suits and Suitors”, which introduces fans to the main characters and systems of Amnesia: Later x Crowd. Our creative team of writers and editors allows us to create a variety of well-produced trailers and videos for our partners, and our dedicated marketing team ensures that this content reaches as many fans as possible through our social media accounts, blogs and newsletters. In addition to the great work from our marketing and creative team, the commercial team at Reef Entertainment ensured that retailers and our direct-to-consumer website are able to get these great titles into the hands of fans across Europe.

Our partner, NIS America, recently debuted four exciting new titles in their NISA Showcase 2022 digital event: In partnership with NIS America, we will be distributing these titles throughout Europe via numerous retailers and our direct-to-consumer website. We are also offering Limited Editions for fans to pre-order exclusively on our online store, which come included with beautifully-crafted merchandise and collector’s items, as well as retail Deluxe Editions. Throughout the years, we’ve worked on countless Limited Editions for our partners, exciting fans with amazing extras to go alongside their favourite games.

A few of our team at Reef Entertainment went along to the PlayStation Partners event in Windsor. Excitement to get back to in person events was great, and the plethora of friendly faces, and great information to absorb was a prospect that the team were keen to engage with. It was a really great event, with our gracious PlayStation staffers all kindly getting us onboarded at the start of the day. The presentations were full of incredibly useful information that we as a team will be able to take back and utilise. The fantastic host Paul led the charge, and all team PlayStation presented the information with flair, and real depth. It was incredibly nice for us to all be together in person, and great to see faces new and old. The event was really insightful, was hosted and organised fantastically, and our team had some great takeaways. It’s great to see where the tools we use regularly are going to continue to improve. Our relationship with PlayStation continues to flourish. Thanks again to PlayStation for holding such a superb event for everyone in attendance.