- See also: Ntreev Soft and ROI Games
- "For fun For new For you"
- — Sonnori's slogan
Logo of Sonnori
(used from 1998 to 2003 and 2017~)
Sonnori's Logo
(2003 ~ )
Sonnori (손노리) was a South Korean company that was established in July 1992 as an Indie game development team. After belonging as a team to Softry (1994) and Phantagram (1997). The company became independent in February 1998.[1] The company became a subsidiary of CJ Games in 2011 but dissolved/shutdown shortly after.
Later, It's former CEO, Lee Won Sool has re-established 'Sonnori' and registered it in the registration of corporations. He initially used ROI Games as an official name, then.
On July 14th, 2017, ROI Games changed its name to Sonnori,' and as such, Sonnori has returned.
Sonnori is best known for its work on the Astonishia Story games and White Day.[2]
History[]
1992 - 2003[]
Sonnori and Ntreev Soft's history is fairly the same from 1992 to 2003.
See Sonnori and Ntreev Soft Company History
- 2001.09
'WhiteDay' released.
- 2001.11
Merged with Locus Holdings, Inc. - Sonnori Game Development & Business Headquarter team founded.
- 2002.
'Astonishia Story R'(RPG-PC), PC Online Game 'Monster KuruKuru' (Arcade), PC Online Game 'Cartoon Racer' (Casual Racing) launched
- 2003.11
Plenus, Inc( former: Locus Holdings). divides into Ntreev Soft Co., Ltd. and Sonnori Co., Ltd.
2006 - 2014[]
- 2006.
Sonnori and Gravity.co, 'STYLIA' (PC Web game Portal) Project launched.
[Sonnori made Jeonpa Sonyeondan (전파 소년단), [Translation: Radio wave Boy Scouts](online action-shooting), 'Love Forty'(an online tennis game)]
- 2006.09
Sonnori portable game team separated. The portable game team was re-established as Ironnos.
- 2006.10
'Astonishia Story 2'(= 'Crimson Gem Saga' )launched (2D mobile.ver / PSP version launched 2008)
- 2008.
Webgame Potal 'STYLIA' Service Closed. Began to develop Nintendo DS game title.
('Close shave!! Rescue plan for Universe Union's Official natural monument No.522-8934 mankind'
/ Stop Development since 2012 )
- 2010.
'Astonishia Story Online'(PC) First Closed-beta test.
- 2011.
CJ Games (After Netmable) acquired Sonnori. announced
Lee Won-sool(Sonnori 's co-founder, CEO, and developer) took office as the CEO of Turnon games, which is a CJ games subsidiary company.
- 2014.07
Lee Won-sool leaves Turnon games. According to reports, Sonnori.co was not merged but its corporate state remains on paper only.
[3]
2014 - 2017 (ROI Games)[]
ROI GAMES Logo
- "FOR FUN! FOR NEW! FOR YOU!"
- — Roi Games' Motto, like Sonnori's
- 2014.08
Lee Won-sool has founded ROI Games which is Roi visuals (3D animation studio)'s subsidiary company. [4]
Roi Games is a Korean video game development studio. Roi Games is an innovative game production company that was brought together by veteran game developers with 15+ years of experience from Sonnori and Roi Visual, a leading global video content company. It's CEO is Lee Won Sool, the previous CEO of Sonnori.[5]
They are the company responsible for developing the White Day 2015 Remake, which is their first game.[6][7]
- "Roi Games is an innovative game production company that was brought together by veteran game developers with 15+ years of experience from Sonnori and Roi Visual, a leading global video content company."
- — Site Quote
Roi Games was founded by Lee Won Sool, who was the previous CEO of Sonnori. ROI Games is a subsidiary company of ROI Visuals.[8] Roi Games was founded by ex-Sonnori and veteran game developers who have created titles such as Astonishia Story, Forgotten Saga, and White Day: A Labyrinth Named School, along with with Roi Visual, a leading global video content company, best known for Robocar Poli.[9]
2016 Jun 22th, KakaoGames became the largest shareholder (stake 40.1%) by investing 6 billion KRW (About 5.35 million U.S.$) in this company.[10]
2017 - Present[]
On July 14th, 2017, ROI Games was renamed Sonnori on the 25th anniversary of Sonnori's founding, starting with their YouTube and official website getting a slight redesign with the Sonnori logo replacing the ROI Games logo.
It is presumed that when he left a 'Turnon games' and did register it in the registration of the corporation.
In the latest report (2016-12-31/Korean) of the credit rating agency, the company name is Sonnori Co., Ltd.
They have also opened an Official Facebook page
Games[]
| Game Name | Genre | Platform | Release Date | Developer | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astonishia Story | RPG | PC | 1994 | Sonnori | |
| Darkside Story (Link:Kor) | Beat-'em-Up | PC | 1995 | Sonnori | |
| Forgotten Saga(Link:Kor) | RPG | PC | 1997 | Sonnori | |
| Steel Empire(Link:Kor) | Strategy | PC | 1998 | Sonnori | |
| Arcturus (Link:Kor) | RPG | PC | 2000 | GRAVITY CO., Ltd Sonnori (Co-develop) |
Wizard Soft |
| White Day: A Labyrinth Named School | Horror, Adventure | PC | 2001 | Sonnori | Wizard Soft |
| Oh! Jaemi |
Action |
PC | 2002 | Sonnori | Wizard Soft |
| Astonishia Story R (remake) | RPG | PC, Mobile, PSP | 2002 / 2004 / 2005 |
Sonnori | |
| The Soulless (Working title)[11] |
ARPG | PS2 | 2003 | Sonnori (Canceled) |
|
| Trickster | MMORPG | PC | 2003 | Sonnori->Ntreev Soft | Netmarble Games |
| Pangya |
Sports / Golf |
PC (MMOG) | 2004 | Transferred to Ntreev Soft during development. | HanbitSoft ->Ntreev Soft |
| Cartoon Racer | Casual, Racing | PC (MMOG) | 2002 | Sonnori | Netmarble Games |
| Monster Kuru Kuru | Action, Arcade | PC (MMOG) | 2003 | Sonnori | Netmarble Games |
| Norimax Heroes | RPG, Strategy | Mobile | 2005 | Co-develop by Softmax,Sonnori | |
| Astonishia Story 2 (Crimson Gem Saga) | RPG | Mobile / PSP / iOS |
2005 / 2008 |
Sonnori / Ironnos (Former Sonnori's Mobile game studio) |
|
| Romance of Package | Games Collection / Box Set | PC | 7 January, 2005 | Sonnori | Sonnori |
| Jeonpa Sonyeondan | Action, Side-Scrolling | PC (MMOG) | 2006 | Sonnori | |
| Love Forty | Sports / Tennis | PC (MMOG) | 2006 | Sonnori | |
| Astonishia Story Online | MMORPG | PC | 2010 | Sonnori (※discontinue development) |
|
| Warigari Trio | Action RPG | Mobile | 2015 | ROI Games | |
| The School: White Day | Horror, Adventure | Mobile / PC / PS4 | 2015 / 2017 | ROI Games ( Sonnori ) Gachyon Soft |
ROI Games (Sonnori), Arc System Works, PQube etc. |
| The School: Swan Song | Horror, Adventure | PSVR / PS4 | TBA 2017 | ROI Games ( Sonnori ) |
Site quotes[]
- FORFUN! FORNEW! FORYOU!
- Realize your dreams with Roi Games.
- Roi Games aims to be different.
- Roi Games’ Identity “Roi” is the French word for king. We consider this a promise to treat our customers as kings and to provide the best service possible. Our trademark, the green crown, represents creativity and never-ending growth.
Further Notes[]
- Ironically, Astonishia Story was Sonnori's first game and their last game was also an "Astonishia Story" game, before their re-establishment from ROI Games to Sonnori in 2017.
- Sonnori's only horror game is White Day.
- Originally, Sonnori was established by a bunch of friends as an Indie game studio.
Gallery[]
.png "Sonnori Co Logo (2006).png (11 KB)"){kind=logo}
(2003 !)
.png "Sonnori Logo(from 1998 - 2003).png (62 KB)")
(used from 1998 to 2003).
External links[]
- Roi Games Homepage (Korean)
- Roi Games Homepage (English)
- Sonnori.co.kr Website | Archived version (2006/06/13)
References[]
- ↑ Ntreev Soft Company History Sonnori and Ntreev 's history is equal from 1992 to 2003.
- ↑ A History of Korean Gaming - Sonnori, Ntreev, Ironnos section History of Sonnori, Ntreev, Ironnos.
- ↑ "'손노리 패스맨' 이원술, 넷마블 떠나 독립개발사 설립 전망”, "'Sonnori passman' Lee Won Sool, Leaving Netmarble and establish independent development company forecast"
- ↑ 이원술 대표, '로보카 폴리'와 손잡고 게임업계 복귀 ”, Representatives Lee Won Sool, Come back to game industry with 'Robocar poli'(Roi Visual's works)
- ↑ ROI Games Homepage 로이 게임즈 홈페이지
- ↑ ROI Games - IGN. Retrieved on 2015-12-08.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ ROI Visual Homepage 로이 비쥬얼 홈페이지
- ↑ ::ROI Games:: Company Info
- ↑ KakaoGames, 카카오게임즈, 이원술 로이게임즈에 60억 원 투자...지분 40% 최대주주 등극KakaoGames invested KRW 6 billion in Lee's ROIGames ... becoming the largest shareholder with a stake of 40%
- ↑ The Soulless Game Trailer:The spin-off of Astonishia Story
(소울리스 트레일러 - 어스토니시아 스토리 외전)