Level-5 wary of expansion into China

With Level-5 already establishing an office in California, USA, last year, one can assume that the company behind the Professor Layton series has plans to expand into other regions. When asked about the company entering the Asian and Chinese markets by Nikkei Trendy (translated via Andriasang), CEO Akihiro Hino stated that it may be difficult.

He said that while the Chinese market is huge, there are many barriers to selling games there. He said that he "would rather worry about creating interesting games and in all honesty does not have the desire to tackle a [difficult market]." His company aims to focus on their current markets, which consist of Japan, North America, and Europe.

Professor Layton and his 3D debut.

Speaking of North America, the CEO revealed that their California studio would be developing and releasing its own titles under the Level-5 brand. Hino stated that they have currently "five staff members at present" who are "mostly Japanese." However, the company is planning on using a style of development where they collaborate with staff members native to the US.

Hino also hinted at the possibility of releasing their North American-developed titles as downloadable titles for both consoles and smartphones like the iPhone.