Tencent Acquires Visual Art’s, Developer of Kanon, Air, and Clannad

By YU Hao

Japanese novel and game publisher Visual Art’s announced on Thursday that it has been acquired by the Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings.

Founded in 1991, Visual Art’s is renowned for its "kinetic novels" such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad, as well as games produced by its subsidiary Key. Many of Visual Art’s novels and games have been adapted into animated series. Notably, last year, Key's game "Heaven Burns Red" became the most downloaded game in the Japanese App Store.

In light of the acquisition, Visual Art’s CEO Takahiro Baba will step down due to age reasons, with Genki Tenkumo (Okano Tohya) set to become the new CEO.

Baba said that the company saw its highest earnings in June, thanks to the success of "Heaven Burns Red."

As a private enterprise, Baba's family currently holds 100 percent of the stocks of Visual Art’s. However, since there is no clear successor within the family, there were concerns that the company might face closure if something were to happen to him. To prevent this scenario, Baba decided to seek Tencent's acquisition.

"Visual Art’s will remain Visual Art’s, and the staff will continue to pursue their creative endeavors," the company stated in a reassuring message.