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Wake Up, Girls! Puzzle Smartphone Game Ends Development

Game developer Altplus revealed in its financial statement on August 10 that it is ending development of the Wake Up, Girls! Puzzle no Tenshi smartphone game. The document notes that the developer halted development of the game in order to focus on other options and projects.

The puzzle game was slated to launch in late 2015, and a playable demo briefly launched for Android devices via the Rakuten App Marketplace, but the Twitter account has not updated since 2015. The Rakuen App Marketplace had just launched in August 2015, and it suspended service in December 2016.

The franchise received an earlier smartphone game adaptation titled Wake Up, Girls! Stage no Tenshi. That game launched in December 2013, and ended service in December 2014. The company gloops developed the game.

Altplus is also the developer of The Idolm@ster SideM (published by Bandai Namco Entertainment) and Sora to Umi no Aida (published by ForwardWorks) games. Both games are inspiring anime adaptations. The Idolm@ster SideM premieres in October, and Sora to Umi no Aida debuts in 2018.

The Wake Up, Girls! franchise is getting a new television anime series titled Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shō (Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter) in October.

In the story of the original anime, Green Leaves Entertainment is a tiny production company on the verge of going out of business in Sendai, the biggest city in Japan's northeastern Tohoku region. The agency once managed the careers of magicians, photo idols, fortune-tellers, and other entertainers, but its last remaining client finally quit. In danger of having zero talent (literally), the president Tange hatches an idea of producing an idol group. On the brash president's orders, the dissatisfied manager Matsuda heads out to scout raw talent. Matsuda makes a fateful encounter with a certain girl…

The first television anime premiered in Japan in January 2014 along with a limited theatrical run. Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Japan. Two sequel films, Wake Up, Girls! Seishun no Kage and Wake Up, Girls! Beyond the Bottom, opened in 2015. Sentai Filmworks released Wake Up, Girls!: The Movie and the television series on home video last year.

Additionally, an original net anime spinoff titled Wake Up, Girl Zoo! premiered in 2014. Crunchyroll also streamed that spinoff series. The voice actresses from the show also reprised their roles in a stage play that ran in January. The real-life idol group has also performed theme songs for anime.

[Via Otakomu]