Japanese publishing company Kodansha is currently holding Hiro Mashima during the Indie Live Expo Winter 2021. The contest is open from December 1, 2021, and to January 17, 2022. 1o3018
Regarding the specifics of the contest, Mashima noted that contestants are free to explore the genre of the game. Whether it will be a novel game, RPG, puzzles, or sandbox game; as long as the ‘Fairy Tail’ franchise is incorporated the entry is accepted. The winner of the contest will receive a ¥15 million prize (around US$132k). The game should be completed in about one year, after which Kodansha will distribute and sell it, and the profits will also be distributed to the game developers. The only requirement for the contestants is that they be over 18 by April 2022.
This was not the first time Hiro Mashima had been involved in game development. In April this year, Hiro Mashima announced that he did character designs for the Square Enix game called ‘Gate of Nightmares’.
The popular franchise first debuted in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2006. The Fairy Tail manga ran until July 2017 and has a total of 63 volumes. A sequel manga series ‘Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest’ is currently ongoing.
The first volume of the Fairy Tail manga franchise is described as follows:
Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero—he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?
Official Volume 1 Synopsis, Kodansha
The anime adaptation premiered in the Fall of 2009. Studio Satelight and A-1 Pictures produced the first season. A-1Pictures also worked on season 2, along with studio Bridge. The final season (A-1 Pictures, Bridge, CloverWorks) premiered in 2018 and had 51 episodes. Recently, the franchise has announced that the ‘Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest’ sequel is getting an anime adaptation.
Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Erza, and the whole Fairy Tail guild are back in action! And they’ve decided to tackle the “100 Years Quest”—a job no one’s dared take on since the founding of the guild more than a century ago. A mysterious town, a baffling spirit, a ghastly new enemy … and a brand new continent to explore. When you’re with real friends, the adventures never stop!
Official Volume 1 Synopsis, Kodansha
Source: Kodansha Contest Page / Banner: Kodansha Contest Page, © 2021 Kodansha Ltd.