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Sad news for Western fans of Professor Layton and the Ni No Kuni series, as reports are coming in that development studio Level-5 is ceasing their North American operations.
The news was first reported by GamesIndustry.biz who said the company had begun winding down their operations in the middle of last year, with employees let go from both its International America and Abby spin-off studios—and had been operating "with a skeleton crew" since August 2019.
As per the site's sources, employees were apparently "given every indication" that the companies were closing down, with the final few staff staying on to carry out essential functions while the company consolidated its business in Japan with advertising company Dentsu. Level-5 Abby's CEO and head of day-to-day operations Yukari Hayakawa finally departed the company earlier this year, according to the same sources.
At the time of writing, neither Level-5's Japanese or North American offices have commented on the reports.
It's sad news for those involved and those looking forward to potential English translations of the studio's future games. Earlier this year the company's Japanese CEO Akihiro Hino said that the company was aware their games kept getting delayed, but maintained that it was "a good thing" speaking to the ever shifting release date of their most recent title, Inazuma Eleven: Heroes’ Great Road which is still slated to be released in its native Japan on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch sometime next year.