NEC exits game software industry with sale of Interchannel

Japanese corporation NEC is set to bow out of the game software industry with the sale of its subsidiary NEC Interchannel to online and wireless content specialist Index Corporation.

After the deal, which will see NEC selling off 70 per cent of its shares in the game publishing division for around 3 billion Yen (â'¬23.3 million), the company will be known as Interchannel and Index Magazines president Fumihiro Hamuro will take over as president.

Although NEC Interchannel is little-known in the United States (where it has published PS2 RPG title Culdcept and is preparing to release GameCube title Tube Slider), the firm is much better known in Japan, where it has published a wide range popular dating-style games.

Index, meanwhile, is a company that focuses on the online and wireless content market - and the purchase of Interchannel represents part of a new venture being forged between Index, NEC and NEC's internet service provider company, Biglobe, which aims to bring new content and services to mobile and broadband channels.

Of course, while the sale of Interchannel ends NEC's involvement in game software, the company still has a strong interest in game hardware - as it is a key supplier of components and manufacturing services for console manufacturers.