CAVE's English twitter account will be closed down

[Artemio]

Just saw this on my TL...

Fomr @cave_world_en

Hello this is Masa-King from CAVE WORLD. I have a very important announcement.
I know it's sudden, but CAVE World (EN) twitter account will be shut down on Feb 28, 2014.
The latest information will be made by cavegames on twitter in Japanese.
I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your many years of support.

Source

[StarCreator]

The same announcement is also made on the Japanese Twitter account. Basically, they're sticking to @cavegames as the sole Twitter account from now on.

皆さんこんにちは、CAVE WORLD担当のまさKINGです。 今回は皆様に大切なお知らせと、お願いがございます。 突然ではございますが、この度「まさKING＠CAVE WORLD」のTwitterアカウントを2014年2月28日に閉鎖する事となりました。
2010年開始当初から今日まで数多くの皆様にフォローを頂き、応援を頂きましたことをこの場をお借りして御礼を申し上げます。 今後につきましてはTwitterアカウント「@cavegames」にて皆様にCAVEの様々なサービス、ゲーム情報をジャンジャン発信させて頂きます。
是非フォローして頂ければ幸いです。 尚、こちらのアカウントにつきましては2月28日に削除致しますので、皆様には大変お手数をお掛け致しますが、何卒宜しくお願い致します。 最後に、本当に今まで有難うございました！

[Pretas]

It seems full preparations are underway for Cave to enter the same comatose state as Irem.

[MR_Soren]

They are also closing the cave-world blog. Not sure if they mean the whole site or just the blog portion of it. Anyway, it would seem that they are giving up on the Western world. Their latest iOS releases would suggest this as well.

However... Why Feb 28th? Maybe they have one more iOS game to announce to the English world before closing? They recently patched all of their iOS games which would suggest a bugfix/upgrade to their engine/library code.

[Kollision]

good riddance cave-world

now make real games, €ave

[Udderdude]

Well, they tried.

[KAI]

[RegalSin]

They would probably do much better, by integrating their communications, into a web forum that supports them, like shmups.

Xseed basically uses the Y's forum for their ports. They do not like when people dismiss the later Y's, and prefers people to stick with the later Y's.

Senn, also has many Sonic fans, but they present their own projects as well, so it is a hub for students.

SEGA forum houses, a variety of talent,

shmups, could have an CAVE section

[KAI]

Please no.

[trap15]

Please no.

[Oniros]

Welp, I guess that's it for more Android releases. I really wanted Mushi Futari or DOJ on my phone. CAVE is pretty much putting the chair in place and tying the rope to the beam at this point.

[Wyrmnus]

This kind of announcement dissapoints me. Its like they don't want to try and appeal to North American gamers anymore like they used to. A miracle in the same sense as what happened with Tales of Graces is what's needed here.

[Pretas]

This kind of announcement dissapoints me. Its like they don't want to try and appeal to North American gamers anymore like they used to. A miracle in the same sense as what happened with Tales of Graces is what's needed here.

They tried, it didn't make money. JRPGs have a much larger and more organized fanbase in the US and Europe, which is how releases like the US version of Xenoblade managed to happen against all odds.

[Teufel_in_Blau]

This is very sad but nobody can say that they didn't try it. There seems to be no place for quality shmups in modern gaming. So much talent is going to get wasted if they focus on phone games and pachinko.

[royalfan84]

Idk...I kind of feel like they are giving up a little bit prematurely...although they may not have a choice. I have a good feeling shmups are on their way back in North America..the biggest problem is exposure- people give up because many games are so rare and expenive or they have to wait a month to get the game from japan; this is america where we can have GOOD TASTE and appreciate niche greatness but we're also spoiled with short attention spans...perhaps I'm wrong but I think the gaming trend is about to change a bit...and not just for phones. Maybe the Cave guys will break up and join or form a few unique distinct teams. One can hope.

[BulletMagnet]

Idk...I kind of feel like they are giving up a little bit prematurely...

I'd be inclined to disagree, unfortunately...after numerous region-free releases (most recently SDOJ and Ketsui PS3, if the latter counts), full physical localizations for Deathsmiles and Akai Katana in the US, plus DFK in Europe, not to mention Guwange, Deathsmiles IIX, and Futari BL available via Western digital marketplaces, and the iOS/Android stuff on top of that (someone correct me if I've missed anything), I really can't blame Cave for cutting their losses if they still haven't managed to secure a halfway-decent return on their investments outside of Japan.