What Happened to Genius Inc?

Genius Inc. started its venture in 2014 to create app dramas, which are interactive story apps where players can choose how the story unfolds from a small set of options. Genius is a Japanese company, which is not surprising given that otome games mostly originate from Japan.

Although there is no record of the company filing for bankruptcy, fans on Reddit have observed that some older games have been re-released under a new name, Interactive Studio Inc. It seems that the company's presence now resides under this new name, with the games and Genius Inc's online footprint being removed from the internet, except for what fans have documented on Wiki pages.

Genius Inc. had developed around 67–69 games overall, with over 28 published titles credited to them. It seems that, compared to games like Mystic Messenger, Obey Me, and Love & Deepspace, none of the games under Genius Inc. managed to achieve the same level of popularity and significance. This suggests that Genius Inc. was most likely losing money developing these games and soon had to rebrand.

Otome games are very popular, mainly in Asia and, in some cases, in the West as well. This is because there isn’t much media that caters to women, and the otome genre has been there to serve mainly women. Mobile otome games are especially popular because most of them are free and more easily accessible to the general otome player.

The games that were once under Genius Inc might not be completely lost, as comments suggest that some of them have been uploaded under the company's new name, Interactive Studio Inc. This could mean that games still missing from the Genius Inc. collection might be uploaded again under Interactive Studio Inc.

Fans have commented that the games sometimes lack strong writing and that the company often reuses tropes and character elements to produce more titles, along with featuring many ads. On the positive side, people feel nostalgic about the games and, regardless of their quality, appreciate that they are free to play.