Hamster Corporation

Hamster Corporation was founded in November 1999 in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo as an offshoot of the gaming division of Toshiba-EMI Limited.^[1] In April 2000, Hamster began releasing games in its budget-priced Major Waves series on the PlayStation. In its early years, Hamster also focused on web development, working on web portals for internet and gaming companies. Its own online store was launched in June 2001.^[2] In 2002, the company launched its Arcade Hits line.^[3] In January 2003, Hamster helped to launch Game Excavation Island, Konami's i-mode gaming website.^[4] In 2005, it also launched the Oretachi Gasen Zoku series, focusing on cult arcade games.^[3] The first six games announced were Scramble, Crazy Climber, Time Pilot, Moon Cresta, and Sonic Wings.^[5] When DeNA revamped its Mobage Town game site in 2008, Hamster contributed an online version of its The Convenience Store game.^[6] The company started releasing Virtual Console games on the Wii in 2010, 3DS in 2011, and Wii U in 2013.^[7]

In March 2014, Hamster acquired the rights to Nihon Bussan's video game catalog.^[8][9] The Arcade Archives series began the same year, re-releasing classic games on the PlayStation 4.^[10] The first three titles were Crazy Climber, Ninja-Kid, and Rygar.^[11][12] In December, the company began its Appli Archives series for PlayStation Mobile devices.^[13][14]

In 2016, Hamster acquired the rights to UPL's catalog.^[7] It also introduced the ACA Neo Geo series, which focused on re-releases of titles originally produced for SNK's Neo Geo platform. The King of Fighters '94, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Alpha Mission II, and Fatal Fury: King of Fighters were among the first releases.^[15] The company started releasing games on a weekly basis when the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017.^[16][17][18] The first titles announced were Nintendo games, including Mario Bros., VS. Super Mario Bros., VS. Balloon Fight, VS. Ice Climber, VS. Pinball, VS. Clu Clu Land, and Punch-Out!!^[19] Hamster acquired the rights to NMK's games in June in 2017^[20] and Irem's games in November 2017.^[21] It also acquired the rights to Video System's catalog in March 2018.^[22][23] In June 2018, Hamster re-released the original Donkey Kong arcade game on the Nintendo eShop. Nintendo's Sky Skipper was also re-released the following month.^[24] In April 2019, Hamster re-released a 1983 arcade title Donkey Kong 3 as part of the Arcade Archives series.^[25] The company also co-developed Arcade Classics: Anniversary Collection with assistance from Konami.^[26] In September 2019, Hamster was recognized by Guinness World Records for the most consecutive releases on the Nintendo eShop (133 weeks).^[27] In October 2019, the company released Nintendo's Golf as part of the Arcade Archives series.^[28]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamster transitioned to remote work in March 2020. After CERO went on hiatus, the company had resorted to adjust its release schedule and concentrate on games to which the company owned the rights in order to continue its release streak.^[29] The company's CEO Satoshi Hamada slept at the office until he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for over a month in 2021. During that time, Hamster still managed to maintain its release schedule.^[30]

The company released VS. Wrecking Crew in April 2020.^[31] In June 2020, Hamster announced it would be releasing Nintendo's Super Punch-Out!! and VS. Baseball.^[32] That same month, it also released Konami's Sunset Riders as the 100th title in the same series.^[33] In 2021, Hamster and Taito announced a collaboration that would be the start of its Taito Milestones series.^[34] In October, it was reported that the company had filed a trademark for "Console Archives" leading to speculation that Hamster would expand beyond re-releasing arcade games.^[35] In 2022, Sega released the Astro City Mini V mini console and it included three Nichibutsu titles; Moon Cresta (1980), Cosmo Police Galivan (1985) and Terra Cresta (1985).^[36][37] Hamster contributed several games to the release. In November 2022, the company reached 300 consecutive weeks of releases. In commemoration, Hamster announced the inclusion of Galaxian (1979) and Tetris: The Grand Master (1998), the first 32-bit arcade game by Arika in the Arcade Archives series.^[38] The company acquired the rights to Allumer's catalog in February 2023. The first re-release was the card game Magical Speed in 1994.^[39] It also acquired the rights to Athena's games in September 2023, starting with a 1991 arcade shoot 'em up Strike Gunner S.T.G..^[40] By 2023, Hamster had over 50 people in development and QA working on its Arcade Archives series. Its team in Hokkaido works on the company's emulators.^[16] In May 2024, the ACA2 Neo Geo series was announced for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S as an evolution of the existing line of re-releases.^[41] That August, Hamster relocated its head office from Setagaya-ku, Tokyo to Yoga.^[42] In September, the company announced the ACA Neo Geo Selection series, a physical collection of previously released Neo Geo games.^[43]

In 2025, Hamster debuted its Arcade Archives 2 series with the 1993 release of Ridge Racer for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.^[44] The series adds a redesigned user interface and additional game modes with "Time Attack Mode" exclusively added to Arcade Archives 2.^[45] The company had released its 500th title, Space Invaders (1978), on December 25, 2025.^[10] On February 5, 2026, Hamster revealed its Console Archives line of titles as part of a Nintendo Partner Showcase, with Cool Boarders (1996) for the original PlayStation and Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990) for the NES released that same day.^[46][47]