Westone Bit Entertainment

Westone Bit Entertainment Inc. (株式会社ウエストン·ビット·エンタテインメント, Kabushiki-gaisha Uesuton Bitto Entateinmento) was a video game developer founded in May 1986, based in Mukoujima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. They were most famous for the Wonder Boy/Monster World series. Originally called Escape (エスケープ, Esukēpu), the company was renamed to Westone as the word Escape made them sound unreliable.^[1] The company's name was changed yet again to Westone Bit Entertainment in April 2000.^[2] The chief publisher was Ryuichi Nishizawa. The company went bankrupt and entered the liquidation process on October 1, 2014.^[3] Currently, the intellectual property rights to Westone Bit Entertainment's games are owned by LAT Corporation.

Westone Bit Entertainment Inc.

Native name
Japanese name
Kanji	株式会社ウエストン·ビット·エンタテインメント
Formerly	Escape Westone
Founded	May 1986; 39 years ago (1986-05)
Founders	Ryuichi Nishizawa Michishito Ishizuka
Defunct	October 1, 2014 (2014-10-01)
Fate	Bankruptcy liquidation
Successor	LAT Corporation
Headquarters	Sumida, Tokyo , Japan
Website	westone.co.jp

The Westone name is derived from the first characters of the names of company founders, Ryuuichi Nishizawa (Nishi = West) and Michishito Ishizuka (Ishi = Stone).^[1]

Games

• Wonder Boy (1986)
• Jaws (1987)
• Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987)
• Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988)
• Appare! Gateball (1988)
• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989)
• Mashin Eiyuden Wataru Gaiden (1990)
• Aoi Blink (1990)
• Aurail (1990)
• Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991)
• Power Eleven (1991)
• Riot City (1991)
• Riot Zone (1992)
• Monster World IV (1994)
• Blood Gear (1994)
• Mega Bomberman (1994)
• Dungeon Explorer (1995)
• Kekkon (1995)
• Dark Half (1996)^[4]
• Wolkenkratzer: Shinpan no Tou (1996)
• Willy Wombat (1997)
• Soukou Kihei Votoms Gaiden: Ao no Kishi Berserga Monogatari (1997)
• Sotsugyou Album (1998)
• Sotsugyou III: Wedding Bell (1998)
• Sotsugyou M: Male Graduation - Seitokaichou no Kareinaru Inbou (1998)
• Wachenröder (1998)
• Milano no Arbeit Collection (1999)
• Cyber Team in Akihabara: PataPies! (1999)
• Di Gi Charat Fantasy (2001)
• Reel Fishing: Wild (2001)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project (2001)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project with Asuka Supplementing Project (2003)
• Relaxuma: Ojama Shitemasu 2 Shuukan (2005)
• Secret of Evangelion (2006)
• Clockwork Aquario (2021)^[5]