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Added: 21 May 2013
Hudson Soft Ltd. was founded in Sapporo, Japan on May 18, 1973 by brothers Yuji and Hiroshi Kudo. The founders grew up admiring trains, and named the business after their favorite, the Hudson locomotives (especially Japanese C62). Hudson began as a shop called CQ Hudson (CQハドソン), selling radio telecommunications devices and art photographs. In September 1975, Hudson Soft began selling personal computer-related products, and in March 1978 started developing and selling video game packages.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hudson Soft favored a quantity over quality approach for the marketing of video games. At one point, the company released up to 30 different computer softwares per month; none of which were hugely successful. Things changed in late 1983, when Hudson started to prioritize quality over quantity. Hudson became Nintendo's first third-party software vendor for the Famicom and its title for this console, Lode Runner, sold 1.2 million units after its 1984 release.
The business continued developing video games on the Famicom and computer platforms (MSX, NEC PC-8801, ZX Spectrum, among others), and was reorganized as Hudson Soft Co., Ltd. in July 1985.[6] A caravan was held at sixty venues throughout Japan, a first for the video game industry.[6] Bomberman was released in December of this year on the Famicom and was considered a "big hit" by Hudson Soft.
In July 1987, Hudson developed the "C62 System" and collaborated with NEC to develop the PC Engine video game console. It achieved a second-best success to Famicom in Japan, but its release as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America had less market share than Nintendo's new Super Nintendo or Sega's new Genesis. Throughout 1990, Hudson Soft developed and published video games for an array of systems. In 1994, the 32-bit semiconductor chip "HuC62" was independently developed by Hudson and used in NEC's PC-FX video game console.
Hudson Soft's head office was transferred to Tokyo in 2005. But the original Sapporo headquarters remained in operation as a secondary office.
Hudson Soft lost several key people starting in the mid-2000s. Co-founder Hiroshi Kudo left the company in November 2004 following financial losses.[8] Shinichi Nakamoto, who was with the company since 1978 and creator of the Bomberman series, followed suit in 2006. Veteran Takahashi Meijin resigned in May 2011; he had joined Hudson Soft in 1982. Around 2010-2011, many employees migrated to Nintendo's restructured Nd Cube studio which is headed by Hidetoshi Endo, himself a former Hudson Soft President.
Relation with Konami
The relation between Hudson Soft and Konami can be traced back as early as 1985, when Hudson ported Konami's arcade game Pooyan to the Famicom. Moreover, Konami was a third party publisher for Hudson Soft's PC Engine in Japan. But the acquisition process of Hudson Soft by Konami would only begin in 2001.
Hudson Soft was severely hit by the collapse of its main bank Hokkaido Takushoku. Seeking new financing alternatives,
Hudson Soft entered the stock market for the first time in December 2000, listing on the NASDAQ Japan Exchange. This led to Konami purchasing a stock allocation of 5.6 million shares in August 2001, becoming the company's largest shareholder. Within the terms of this purchase, Hudson acquired the Sapporo division of Konami Computer Entertainment Studio, renaming it Hudson Studio.
In April 2005, capital was increased via an allocation of 3 million shares from a third party. Konami Corporation, holding 53.99% of all Hudson stock, became Hudson's majority shareholder and parent company. Hudson continued to self-publish in Japan, but working closely with Konami.
In January 2011, Hudson Soft became a wholly owned subsidiary of Konami. On April 1, 2011, Konami liquidated Hudson Entertainment (the subsidiary of Hudson Soft in California).
On March 1, 2012, Hudson Soft officially ceased to exist as
it merged with Konami Digital Entertainment, with its music business being absorbed into Konami Music Entertainment. |
The Retro Isle team
Added: 19 Apr 2026
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