System Sacom

Japan Founded 1981 Website

Established on December 2, 1981, System Sacom Corp. (株式会社システムサコム) was a hardware and software company in Tokyo. It withdrew from the game industry in 1998 and focused on its hardware business. Sacom was responsible for the "Novel Ware" series of adventure games that influenced the sound novel and visual novel genres. Some may also remember the company for its interactive movie games such as Mansion of Hidden Souls and Lunacy. Sacom was a member of DOG (Disk Original Group), a coalition of companies led by Square that produced games for the Famicom Disk System, and a similar group called Super Software Team, made up of several computer game makers. It was also involved with Scap Trust, a joint venture with seven other software companies. Yukio Horimoto, creator of Märchen Veil, started Infinity in 1986. Sacom's business software division broke away and became System Sacom Business (later SSB) in 1990. In 1998, Masaharu Inoue founded what is now Ivy-Arts (originally Media Jungle, then Jungle). Umihara Kawase creator Kiyoshi Sakai and character designer Toshinobu Kondo were former Sacom employees.

System Sacom at a Glance

System Sacom operated as a Japanese game developer and publisher from 1985 until its withdrawal in 1998. Founded in 1981, the company released 22 games on PlayPile with equal weight given to publishing and developing roles. Their catalog spans three decades of output, though the majority of their work appeared in the 1990s with 14 titles compared to just seven in the 1980s. The firm was a member of several industry coalitions including DOG and Super Software Team alongside major developers like Square. The company specialized heavily in adventure games which make up 12 of their 22 releases. This focus aligns with their reputation for creating "Novel Ware" series titles that influenced the visual novel genre. They also produced role-playing games, sports titles, and a single entry each in simulator, shooter, platform, racing, and pinball categories. Their games appeared on a wide variety of platforms including PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Super Famicom, and several Japanese computer systems like the PC-8800 Series and Sharp X68000. Notable titles from their later years include Murder on the Eurasia Express and Jikuu Tantei DD 2: Hangyaku No Apsalar released in late 1998. They also created interactive movie games such as Mansion of Hidden Souls and Lunacy which remain among their more recognized works. The studio saw significant personnel changes over time with creators like Yukio Horimoto starting Infinity and Kiyoshi Sakai leaving to create Umihara Kawase. System Sacom ceased game development in 1998 to focus on hardware business after a long run of releasing titles for various Japanese consoles and computers. While they had a distinct presence in the adventure market during their active years, their total output remains relatively small compared to larger industry players. The company did not maintain a continuous presence beyond the late 1990s and has no recent releases listed on PlayPile. Former employees went on to form other studios while System Sacom itself moved away from software creation entirely.

Total Games

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Avg Rating

1985

First Release

1998

Latest Release