Sol Press is leaving the VN scene and Mirai Radio is dropped

[Formlose Gestalt]

On May 27th Sol Press announced in a Blog post that they will not license any new VNs and but are intending to release the titles that they have licensed.

Here is their quote:

Quote

To further our efforts with our book publishing, we are, regrettably, going to be phasing out of visual novel publishing. As of right now, we intend to finish all announced projects, but we currently do not have any plans to pick up more VN licenses (with the exception of sequels if demand is sufficient). There is simply too much uncertainty surrounding their publishing in terms of things like releasing on Steam, which is by and far the largest VN distribution platform available, in an already niche market. Couple that with the extremely high cost of licensing, production, and additional fees, and it simply does not bode well for our long-term goals and release schedules.

As much as stepping away from VNs is a necessary move for us, everyone at Sol Press loves the medium, and we have hopes that we don’t have to stop publishing VNs entirely. If at all possible, once we get things sorted in regards to publishing our light novels and manga, we’d like to keep our toes dipped in, so to speak, and pick up the occasional VN. Doing so will depend on numerous factors, so we don’t want to make any promises that this is something that will happen, but we’re all such big fans that we definitely don’t want to drop the medium as a whole. We’ll work to keep you updated on what happens in that regard.

Link: https://solpress.co/blog/803/where-we-are-and-where-were-going

 

Then today after silently removing it from their website and being asked about it on Discord, they announced that they won't translate The Future Radio and the Artificial Pigeons.

You can find the second blog post here: https://solpress.co/blog/846/news-regarding-laplacians-the-future-radio-and-the-artificial-pigeons

 

I just wanted to share that information here.

 

Personally I am disappointed with both news. I know that Sol Press doesn't have the best reputation, but with them gone there will be fewer VN translated in the future. I personally was looking forward to The Future Radio and the Artificial Pigeons. and Nukitashi, so I am especially disappointed by the second news. And it is a really bad look that they have to already walk back on something that they said 10 days ago. Even if a staff member explained on Discord that they said they where only intending to finish all announced projects.

I guess that is just the reality of the VN translation business.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Formlose Gestalt

[Veshurik]

I think it's the first official news, when VN localization company dropped the license? 

[Clephas]

Considering that company's... *coughs* problems, is this even a surprise?

[Dreamysyu]

Well, I have a few conflicting thoughts. With how things in the industry are nowadays, I wonder how any company still wants to release erotic powerpoints to begin with. Talking about Sol Press in particular, translating manga and LNs must be just a lot less risky and more cost-efficient. They don't need to bother with the tech stuff, and the releases are episodic, so the profits are a lot more spread out over time. (Though, I don't really follow their LN and manga releases, but I've heard that they have a tendency to stop releasing things after just a single volume. And, considering that they still haven't released second volumes to Saving 80000 Gold and Harem Royale, the two series by them that I actually was interested in, this might as well be the case.)  At the same time, I don't really feel attached to this particular studio, since, when it comes to their collection, I only really read Daresora. Though I also was a bit interested in Newton, Under One Wing and that VN that they decided not to release... And I backed Irotoridori kickstarter, and now I kind of start to doubt even more if we are ever going to see it completed...

I don't know, it might be the first sign of the further decline in the market, or just another incompetent producer leaving it to give way for better players. I guess we'll see.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Dreamysyu

[Silvz]

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

or just another incompetent producer leaving it to give way for better players. I guess we'll see.

probably this, it's not like they were a big company or anything. If Sekai got out from the VN market, then I'd be worried

[Seraphim]

I wonder if they're still working on Hyourin, which they announced at the end of 2018. Haven't heard anything about it since, so maybe it's been abandoned by now.
I'm all for a VN store with a dedicated client where all localization companies could come together and distribute their games, and while I don't know if Hyourin was supposed to offer such an extensive service, the initial announcement definitely caught my interest.

[ChaosRaven]

Understandable decision. Having to rely on the erratic Steamquisition to sell your titles can certainly be quite frustrating. And unlike MangaGamer or Sekai they don't have their own established shop site. Though it's nice to hear that they still want to translate some rare hand picked titles in future. The market is a bit oversaturated anyway, so getting some rare pearls instead of just a bunch of mediocrity doesn't sound too bad.

[Freestyle80]

On 6/5/2020 at 11:47 PM, Seraphim88 said:

I'm all for a VN store with a dedicated client where all localization companies could come together and distribute their games, and while I don't know if Hyourin was supposed to offer such an extensive service, the initial announcement definitely caught my interest.

Thats just the mangagamer store now tho, isnt it? 

[littleshogun]

Late to the party. As for their light novel (LN), they already been infamous with the LN community in that they also didn't like Sol Press because of the obvious reasons. In any case, the only VN that was interesting from Sol Press that have significant progress right now is Irotoridori, and I just hope that they'll have it released at this year (Small chance I know).

Edited July 27, 2020 by littleshogun

[Stormwolf]

Fantastic Sol press. Now i won't buy Irotoridori as it's not worth my money unless i know for a fact i get to read the sequels

Edited July 27, 2020 by Stormwolf

[Acrylic7]

Feel sad to hear this. But I suppose, there's nothing we can do. Life goes on.