Sacnoth, Inc. was a Japanese video game development company. It was owned by SNK Corporation, then by Aruze following its acquisition of SNK in 2001. The company was founded in 1997 by Hiroki Kikuta with the funding of SNK; its staff, including Kikuta, were veterans of Square. While their first release was the Dive Alert games for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, the company was founded to produce Koudelka, a role-playing game for the PlayStation. The development of Koudelka was troubled due to creative differences between Kikuta and the rest of the staff, with Kikuta resigning as CEO following the game's release and being replaced by Jun Mihara. The company also released the NGPC game Faselei!. In 2001, the company was acquired by Aruze, going on to develop the first game in the Shadow Hearts series. After the release of Shadow Hearts, the company's name was changed to Nautilus and developed two more Shadow Hearts games. In 2007, the company was renamed Aruze Global Trading during restructuring at the company and ceased game development. The company ceased to exist in 2009 after being absorbed into Aruze. Multiple Sacnoth staff became part of Feelplus.
History
Origins
Sacnoth was founded by Hiroki Kikuta, a composer for Square who worked on Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Soukaigi. While at Square, Kikuta wanted to direct his own game, but due to the strict hierarchical structure at the company he could not move beyond his role as a composer. Searching for a means of expanding his role, he was introduced by a colleague to the chairman of SNK Corporation. During their talk, Kikuta outlined many perceived pitfalls he saw emerging in the role-playing genre. The company was officially founded on 30 April 1997, with Kikuta as its CEO. While SNK provided funding for the company, it otherwise had little involvement in its products and creative direction. Sacnoth is noted as being one of a group of video game companies—alongside Monolith Soft, Love-de-Lic and Mistwalker—founded by Square staff who had worked on notable titles produced during the 1990s. The company's headquarters were based in Tokyo.
1999-2001: First games, ''Shadow Hearts''
During their initial existence, Sacnoth was one of SNK's main development partners for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Sacnoth developed their first two projects in parallel; Koudelka for the PlayStation, and the Dive Alert games for the NGPC. The Dive Alert games were their first released products in Japan, and formed part of the Western launch line-up for the NGPC. Koudelka was born from Kikuta's wish to create a "horror RPG", beginning development of the title following the company's foundation. Kikuta acted as the game's director, producer, writer and composer. His original plan for the gameplay and combat was to combine mechanics from simulation and adventure games, breaking away from RPG trends. The rest of the staff were reluctant to do this, and they instead created a traditional turn-based battle system without his involvement. Due to these creative differences, Kikuta resigned as Sacnoth's CEO following the release of Koudelka in 1999, going on the found the music label Norstrilia. Kikuta was replaced as CEO by Jun Mihara. During this period, SNK ran into financial troubles and was bought out by Aruze, making Sacnoth a subsidiary of Aruze. The last game developed by Sacnoth under SNK was Falesei, a tactical RPG released in 1999 for the NGPC. Falesei was one of the last games produced for the NGPC, as Aruze pulled the console from sale in late 2000. The team's next project, Shadow Hearts, began development in 1999 for the PlayStation 2, directed and written by Koudelka art director Matsuzo Machida. Mihara acted as the game's producer. Using the setting of Koudelka, Machida created a traditional role-playing game that blended Lovecraftian horror with alternative history. Shadow Hearts was the first RPG published by Aruze. The game released in 2001. Shadow Hearts was the last game developed by Sacnoth under that name.
2003-2009; Reformation as Nautilus and final years
During 2003, Sacnoth was reformed under the name "Nautilus", carrying over the original staff of Sacnoth. The responsibilities of Nautilus were divided between developing further Shadow Hearts titles and supporting the production of Aruze's pachinko machines. The company's first title under the Nautilus name was ', a direct sequel to Shadow Hearts featuring many of the same staff. Using feedback from the first Shadow Hearts, Machida added more comedic elements. Covenant released in 2004. The team also created a director's cut of Covenant. After the release of Covenant, a new entry was put into productions. Titled ', the game was completed on a very tight schedule and focused on refining the battle system of Covenant rather than adding new elements. Rather than continuing the narrative of Shadow Hearts and Covenant, From the New World was a spin-off featuring new characters. This was done to appeal to a wider audience. From the New World was released in 2005. There were plans to continue the Shadow Hearts series beyond From the New World, but these never materialised. In February 2007, the website for Nautilus was closed and it no longer appeared in Aruze's financial statements, prompting rumors that the company had been dissolved. Nautilus was officially dissolved and renamed Aruze Global Trading on September 21, 2007 during large-scale structural changes within Aruze. Under its new name, Aruze Global Trading was not involved in game development. Aruze Global Trading was fully merged with Aruze in June 2009, and the company ceased to exist. Most of the original staff of Sacnoth eventually became part of Feelplus, which helped develop multiple games including Lost Odyssey and Ninety-Nine Nights II.
