Vespa "Japanese Corporation Signs Character IP License Agreement with Sanrio"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Vespa's Japan local subsidiary 'Hive' announced on the 6th that it is developing a mobile game utilizing the Netflix popular animation 'Aggretsuko' IP.

'Aggretsuko' is an animation directly produced by Sanrio, Japan's largest character licensor famous for Hello Kitty. The fact that a related mobile game is under development was first revealed at the 'Sanrio Expo' held at Osaki Gate City Hall in Tokyo, Japan, starting last weekend.

'Aggretsuko' is an animation series loved for its charming graphics anthropomorphizing animals and its realistic story dealing with the hardships of office workers, which resonates with many. It was first released as a 1-minute short animation on Japanese terrestrial TV in 2016. Since 2018, seasons 1 and 2 have been distributed worldwide in eight languages on Netflix, gaining much love mainly in Japan and North America.

'Hive' is preparing a puzzle-type game with rich content where players can naturally enjoy the charm and fun of 'Aggretsuko' within the game. In line with the Netflix airing of the upcoming season 3 of the animation scheduled for this year, a beta test will be conducted in the first half of the year, followed by a global launch focusing on Japan and North America.

A Vespa official said, "We are very pleased to develop our first game using an external IP together with Sanrio," adding, "Among the new titles currently in preparation, many works utilizing famous IPs are also being prepared. Through this, Vespa plans to produce and expand its original IPs such as KingsRaid and expand its user base with games utilizing famous IPs like Aggretsuko."

Meanwhile, Sanrio is Japan's largest character specialist company that has captured the hearts of the public with flagship characters such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Gudetama (Lazy Egg). Various new businesses are unveiled annually through the Sanrio Expo.

This year's event focused on introducing new products to be released, marketing plans for characters celebrating their 45th anniversary (My Melody, Little Twin Stars), and announcements of new animation broadcasts. The game adaptations of Sanrio's own IPs, including the tentative title 'Aggretsuko,' also attracted much attention at the venue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.