Studio Sasanqua Launches Indie Publishing With [AFANTASIA]
By attaching its own director to production and promotion for each title, Studio Sasanqua is pitching publishing as an extension of in-house development rather than a separate label function, which is an unusual posture for a studio of its size.
Key Facts
- Studio Sasanqua announced its indie game publishing business on October 2, 2026, with [AFANTASIA] as the first title.
- [AFANTASIA] is developed by Brazilian creator noidnoidnoid and is planned for release on PC via Steam, with the release date and price undecided.
- [AFANTASIA] supports English, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese.
- [AFANTASIA] will be playable at Brasil Game Show 2026 in Sao Paulo from October 9 to 12 and at DREAMSCAPE#5 in Tokyo on October 24.
- Studio Sasanqua's representative director, Kenji Ozawa, served as director of Legend of Mana: Visions of Mana.
Reporting from 4 sources: Automaton, Denfaminicogamer, GameBusiness.jp, Game Spark.
Studio Sasanqua announced on October 2, 2026 that it is launching an indie game publishing business, and named [AFANTASIA] as its first title. The game is a point-and-click narrative exploration adventure from Brazilian creator noidnoidnoid, in which a boy who has lost all of his memories wanders the small town of Tempo guided by a voice called Intrusion that echoes in his head. He picks up fragments of the past, relives other people's memories as if they were his own, and faces both who he was and who he will become. Player choices decide whether he stays in Tempo or heads to the city. The platform is PC via Steam, and the release date and price are undecided. Studio Sasanqua, based in Tokyo, is led by representative director Kenji Ozawa, who served as director of Legend of Mana: Visions of Mana. In a comment, Ozawa wrote that the choice of producing was not about following trends but about taking responsibility for how a game reaches people, and concluded, "I'll make them, and I'll sell them."
The studio's publishing policy puts Ozawa on every title as producer and director, working directly with developers. Content and promotion are planned together rather than handled separately.
The company describes its edge as small-team development backed by staff who have worked on AAA-scale titles. Its stated goal in publishing is to support works with themes meant to make players recall their own experiences.
Fellow developers and industry outlets are not alone in questioning the move. Ozawa wrote: "Some people may have been surprised that a single development company is entering the publishing business, but... personally, my feelings are completely the opposite." He also said producing is "not about following trends by jumping on the bandwagon, but about taking intense responsibility for how interesting something is and how it reaches people."
[AFANTASIA] will be playable at Brasil Game Show 2026 in São Paulo from October 9 to 12, at Distrito Anhembi, the first venue where the game is demoed. Its first Japanese demo comes at DREAMSCAPE#5 on October 24 at Tokyo International Forum Hall E2 in Yurakucho. The game supports English, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese, and its Steam page is live.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 4 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Automaton ナラティブ探索ADV『[AFANTASIA]』発表。失った記憶の手がかりを求めて少年が町を探索する、スタジオサザンカのパブリッシング参入第1弾
- Denfaminicogamer 『聖剣伝説 ヴィジョンズ オブ マナ』の小澤健司氏が率いるスタジオサザンカがパブリッシング事業を開始。第1弾はブラジル発、記憶を失った少年の探索アドベンチャー『[AFANTASIA]』
- GameBusiness.jp 『聖剣伝説VoM』ディレクター率いるスタジオサザンカがインディーゲームパブリッシング事業を開始!第1弾は記憶と向き合うブラジル発ADV『[AFANTASIA]』
- Game Spark 『聖剣伝説VoM』ディレクター率いるスタジオサザンカがインディーゲームパブリッシング事業を開始!第1弾は記憶と向き合うブラジル発ADV『[AFANTASIA]』