Report: Rising Star absorbs Marvelous USA's publishing branch

When European publisher Rising Star opened its U.S. branch earlier this year, it didn't have to build its business from the ground-up. Rather, the publisher has revealed that the new office took shape as the company absorbed the existing publishing business of Marvelous USA. Speaking to UK game site MCV in a recent interview, Rising Star managing director Martin Defries revealed that the new U.S. branch is more of a rebranding project than a whole new office. It's an interesting move, considering Rising Star was partially owned by Marvelous until 2010. "We were given an opportunity to take over the US publishing business of our former parent company Marvellous Entertainment [sic], to rebrand that as Rising Star Games Inc and to build a successful subsidiary," he said. "...by taking over the existing business of Marvelous USA, we are able to hit the ground running." Defries also said that the company hopes to accelerate its U.S. growth by partnering with an undisclosed North American publisher, to which Rising Star will become a third party affiliate. Currently, Rising Star focuses on localizing Japanese titles for Western audiences. The first title to come from the new U.S. office will be an XBLA port of Akai Katana, a Cave-developed shoot 'em up arcade title from 2010. Other Rising Star releases include the UK versions of Bit.Trip Saga, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns, King of Fighters XIII, and more. In mid-2011, Marvelous Entertainment merged with AQ Interactive, and in 2010 the company revealed that it had to reduce profit estimates and cut executive pay.