ACS Visual Entertainment LLC., also known as simply ACS, is an Imaginary What-if Japanese entertainment conglomerate, video game developer and publishing company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Beyond its video game business, the company also produces and distributes trading cards, light novels and arcade cabinets, among others. In the past, ACS has also distributed pachinko and slot machines up until leaving the pachislot business altogether in 2020. Currently, ACS is one of the largest gaming companies in the world in terms of revenue.
Founded in 1967 as A.C.S. Manufacture Ltd., the company originally started out as a manufacturer of arcade attractions such as kiddie rides, toy cranes and coin pusher game, before later shifting their focus toward video game development. The company later officially changed its name to ACS Co., Ltd. in 1981, following this change, eventually renaming themselves once again into ACS Computer Entertainment LLC. in 1995, before later adopting its current name in 2006, in order to emphasize their new vision, expanding their horizons and producing other forms of media.
ACS is best known for their various video game franchises, including Fighting Champions, Sentoki, Fight or Die, Code Chronos, Crisis Moon, Arkane Arena (a shared IP with SBEntertainment), Spunky the Squirrel, Blazin' Wheels, To the Beat and Half*Dead, among others. ACS also currently owns the publishing rights to the Bloody Roar franchise, after having bought the IP rights from Konami.
ACS currently owns several development studios such as ACS Production Studios Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya, as well as Orange Soft (known for developing 2D fighting games), S•T•K Project (the team responsible for the Sentoki series), Digital Revolution (noted for their racing games) and Team Beats (ACS' rhythm game divison). ACS has also acquired several America-based development studios such as Hoodlum Softworks in 2007 (dissolved in 2010) and Headrush Games in 2016.
ACS had previously served as the Japanese distributor for In-Verse games following the success of their crossover fighting game Cross Code: Project Ultimate Versus Battle. In exchange, In-Verse's subsidiary Shiny Star Games distributed some of ACS' games in European regions. As of recently, they have also embarked on a working relationship with SBEntertainment, with the two companies co-producing the Arkane Arena series of games, as well as Rósa: De Sangre Hermosa.
ACS has also published licensed video games, having released games such as the Ring of Honor: Unchained series of wrestling games, based on the Ring of Honor professional wrestling promotion, as well as the Bellator: MMA Fury series, which was licensed by the MMA promotion Bellator MMA. In the past, ACS has also published various licensed sports games under the ACS Sports label.
In 1999, ACS expanded their business model with the introduction of their light novel publishing imprint, DokiDoki Bunko (DDB). Ever since its inception in 1999, DokiDoki Bunko has since published hundreds of popular light novel titles.
