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{{Short description|Japanese video game development company}}
{{lowercase title|title=tri-Ace}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = tri-Ace, Inc.
| logo = Triacelogo.JPG
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| foundation = March 1995
| founder = 
| location_city = [[Tokyo]]
| location_country = [[Japan]]
| area_served = 
| key_people = {{ubl|Yoshiharu Gotanda (president)|Masaki Norimoto (designer)|[[Motoi Sakuraba]] (composer)}}
| products = {{ubl|''[[Star Ocean]]''|''[[Valkyrie Profile]]''}}
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 176 (2024)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tri-ace.co.jp/en/company/about.html | title=Tri-Ace Inc }}</ref>
| parent = Nepro Japan (2015–present)
| homepage = [https://www.tri-ace.co.jp/en/ tri-ace.co.jp]
}}
{{nihongo|'''tri-Ace, Inc.'''|株式会社トライエース|Kabushiki Gaisha Toraiēsu}} is a Japanese [[video game developer]] founded in 1995. They are known for their [[Role-playing video game|role-playing games]], most notably the ''[[Star Ocean]]'' and ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' series.

== History ==
tri-Ace was formed in March 1995 by former [[Telenet Japan]] employees Yoshiharu Gotanda (programmer, current tri-Ace President), Masaki Norimoto (game designer) and Joe Asanuma (director). The name is a play on words regarding the "three [[ace]]s" who formed the company. Most of tri-Ace's games have been [[video game publisher|published]] by [[Square Enix]] (formerly [[Enix]]).

The company exclusively makes [[role-playing video game]]s, and is known for giving their games' action-packed battle systems and deep skill systems. This trademark style began when the founders of tri-Ace originally worked for Telenet Japan's [[Wolfteam]], and had created ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]''. This game, published by [[Namco]], is a precursor to tri-Ace's own ''[[Star Ocean]]'' games in several ways; e.g., an action battle system where the player controls one character and AI controls others in the party and special battle skills that the player can assign to different buttons. Besides the ''Star Ocean'' series, they also released ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' in 1999.

After their long-time [[Square Enix]] liaison and producer, Yoshinori Yamagishi, announced that he was done working on the ''Star Ocean'' series in 2009,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Winkler |first=Chris |date=2009-09-25 |title=Producer Done With Star Ocean |url=http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2009/473.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811211634/http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2009/473.html |archive-date=2019-08-11 |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=RPGFan}}</ref> several of tri-Ace's works started to be published by different game companies other than Square Enix. Such as their 2010 release of ''[[Resonance of Fate]]'' which was taken to Sega publishing.<ref name=":0" /> As well, onwards there began to be a lack of tri-Ace games that received English localizations until ''[[Exist Archive]]'' in 2016.

tri-Ace games have sold over 3.8 million copies worldwide as of September 2005.<ref>{{cite web | title=tri-Ace Company Sales | url=http://www.tri-ace.co.jp/company/sales.html | work=tri-Ace.co.jp | access-date=July 19, 2008}}</ref> The company's sound programmer [[Hiroya Hatsushiba]] formed [[tri-Crescendo]] in 1999 which has since developed several games independently of tri-Ace.

Japanese mobile company Nepro Japan acquired tri-Ace in February 2015.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Matulef|first1=Jeffrey|title=Star Ocean developer tri-Ace acquired by Japanese mobile company|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-02-20-star-ocean-developer-tri-ace-acquired-by-japanese-mobile-company|website=[[Eurogamer]]|publisher=Gamer Network|access-date=February 21, 2015|date=February 20, 2015}}</ref> Despite being acquired by a company focusing on mobile gaming, tri-Ace continued developing video games for consoles,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siliconera.com/2015/03/09/dont-worry-tri-ace-will-keep-making-games-consoles/|title=Don't Worry, tri-Ace Will Keep Making Games For Consoles
|work=Siliconera|date=March 9, 2015|access-date=March 9, 2015}}</ref> as evidenced by ''[[Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness]]'' in 2016 and then ''[[Star Ocean: The Divine Force]]'' in 2022, but weeks before the release for ''Star Ocean: The Divine Force'', tri-Ace was reported to have financial issues and was insolvent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-06 |title=Report: Star Ocean Dev Tri-Ace Takes Major Fiscal Losses |url=https://www.siliconera.com/report-star-ocean-dev-tri-ace-takes-major-fiscal-losses/ |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Siliconera |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=トライエース、22年6月期決算は経常損失6.2億円 前年2.4億円の黒字から赤字転落、債務超過に 『スターオーシャン6』開発 {{!}} gamebiz |url=https://gamebiz.jp/news/357563 |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=gamebiz【ゲームビズ】 |language=ja}}</ref>

==Games developed==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=株式会社トライエース |url=https://www.tri-ace.co.jp/products/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604212443/https://www.tri-ace.co.jp/products/ |archive-date=2023-06-04 |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=www.tri-ace.co.jp |language=ja}}</ref>!! Publisher(s) !! Platform(s)
|-
| {{dts|1996|07|19|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean (video game)|Star Ocean]]'' || rowspan="5"| [[Enix]] || [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]
|-
| {{dts|1998|07|30|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: The Second Story]]'' || rowspan="2"| [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]
|-
| {{dts|1999|12|22|format=y}} || ''[[Valkyrie Profile (video game)|Valkyrie Profile]]''
|-
| {{dts|2001|06|28|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: Blue Sphere]]'' || [[Game Boy Color]]
|-
| {{dts|2003|02|27|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'' || rowspan="4"| [[PlayStation 2]]
|-
| {{dts|2004|01|22|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time|Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's Cut]]'' || rowspan="6"| [[Square Enix]]
|-
| {{dts|2005|01|27|format=y}} || ''[[Radiata Stories]]''
|-
| {{dts|2006|06|22|format=y}} || ''[[Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2008|09|11|format=y}} || ''[[Infinite Undiscovery]]'' || [[Xbox 360]]
|-
| ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume]]'' || [[Nintendo DS]]
|-
| {{dts|2009|02|19|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: The Last Hope]]'' || Xbox 360
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2010|01|28|format=y}} || ''[[Resonance of Fate]]'' || [[Sega]] || [[PlayStation 3]], Xbox 360
|-
| ''[[Star Ocean: The Last Hope|Star Ocean: The Last Hope International]]'' || rowspan="2"| Square Enix || PlayStation 3
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2011|12|15|format=y}} || ''[[Final Fantasy XIII-2]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Tri-Ace Helped Out With Final Fantasy XIII-2 |url=http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/18/tri-ace-helped-out-with-final-fantasy-xiii-2/ |publisher=Siliconera |date=December 18, 2011 |access-date=February 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108002633/http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/18/tri-ace-helped-out-with-final-fantasy-xiii-2/ |archive-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> || PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
|-
| ''Frontier Gate'' || rowspan="2"| [[Konami]] || [[PlayStation Portable]]
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2012|01|19|format=y}} || ''[[Beyond the Labyrinth]]'' || [[Nintendo 3DS]]
|-
| ''[[Danball Senki W]]'' || Level 5 || [[PlayStation Portable]], [[PlayStation Vita]]
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2013|03|14|format=y}} || ''Frontier Gate Boost+'' || Konami || PlayStation Portable
|-
| ''[[Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/13/nora-wont-return-lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii/|title=NORA Won't Return For Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII|author=Spencer|publisher=Siliconera|date=November 13, 2013|access-date=November 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206125147/http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/13/nora-wont-return-lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii/|archive-date=December 6, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> || Square Enix || PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
|-
| rowspan="3" | {{dts|2014|07|30|format=y}} || ''Silent Scope: Bone-Eater'' || Konami || [[Arcade game|Arcade]]
|-
| ''Judas Code'' || tri-Ace || rowspan="2"| PlayStation Vita
|-
| ''[[Phantasy Star Nova]]'' || Sega
|-
| {{dts|2015|12|17|format=y}} || ''[[Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky]]'' || [[Spike Chunsoft]] || [[PlayStation 4]], PlayStation Vita
|-
| rowspan="3" | {{dts|2016|03|31|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness]]'' || Square Enix || PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3
|-
| ''Heaven × Inferno'' || [[NTT Docomo]] || rowspan="2"| [[iOS]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]]
|-
| ''[[Star Ocean: Anamnesis]]'' || rowspan="2"| Square Enix
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|2017|11|28|format=y}} || ''[[Star Ocean: The Last Hope|Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 4K & Full HD Remaster]]'' || [[Microsoft Windows]], PlayStation 4
|-
| ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles 2]]'' {{Citation needed|reason=Proof needed that tri-Ace claims to have developed Xenoblade Chronicles 2|date=August 2025}}|| [[Nintendo]]/[[Monolith Soft]] || [[Nintendo Switch]]
|-
| {{dts|2018|10|18|format=y}} || ''[[Resonance of Fate|Resonance of Fate 4K / HD Edition]]'' || tri-Ace || [[Microsoft Windows]], PlayStation 4
|-
| {{dts|2018|11|26|format=y}}
| ''Mist Gears''
| [[Shueisha]]
| iOS, Android
|-
| {{dts|2022|10|27|format=y}}|| ''[[Star Ocean: The Divine Force]]'' || Square Enix || Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, [[PlayStation 5]], [[Xbox One]], [[Xbox Series X and Series S|Xbox Series X/S]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.tri-ace.co.jp/en/index.html}}

{{Tri-Ace}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tri-Ace| ]]
[[Category:Software companies based in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1995]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Video game companies of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese companies established in 1995]]
[[Category:2015 mergers and acquisitions]]