Tose: The Ghost Developer Behind Atlus and Square Enix’s Biggest Games

Описание: Discover how Japanese "ghost developer" Tose quietly became a key force behind modern JRPGs from Atlus and Square Enix.
In this video, we break down who Tose is, why they almost never appear in game credits, and how they’ve shaped some of your favorite series.
We’ll explain how Tose has been developing and assisting games since 1979, working across nearly every major platform and partnering with giants like Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Atlus, and Square Enix.
You’ll learn why the studio is called a "ghost developer", how its policy of staying out of credits works, and what that means for players and preservation.
We also look at recent projects such as Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and Tales of Graces f Remastered, and discuss what kind of work a co-development studio usually handles.
Using Tose’s latest financial document, we highlight how Atlus became its top client for the second year in a row, making up 22.3% of Tose’s total revenue in the fiscal year ending August 2025.
We then explore how Square Enix surged to second place with 16.9% of revenue, up sharply from below 10% the previous year, and what that suggests about new projects and remasters.
The video also breaks down the rest of Tose’s major partners this year: Bandai Namco Studio, Takara Tomy, Aquaplus, and Bandai Namco Entertainment.
To give more industry context, we touch on Tose’s strategic shift toward prioritizing console game development as the mobile market saturates, and how increased orders for new games drove a turnaround in profits.
Finally, we talk about what this all means for the future of Atlus and Square Enix titles, why invisible studios like Tose matter so much to the games industry, and what players should watch for next.