KLab resumes development of 2020 mobile game based on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
- KLab to resume development of a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure mobile game
- KLab received a licence for it in 2020, and has partnered with Wanda Cinemas Games to make it happen
Japanese mobile games maker KLab is resuming development of a “mobile online game” based on the anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, working with Wanda Cinemas Games to make this possible.
KLab first announced back in 2020 that it received the distribution rights for a mobile game based on the IP, but the project was halted when “circumstances” arose with its development partner.
Now, four years later, a new partner has been found in Beijing-based Wanda Cinemas Games; and still holding the licence rights from 2020, this partnership empowers KLab to complete the mobile JoJo title.
A longstanding IP
With development resumed, the JoJo game is currently slated to launch everywhere but Japan in 2026, presumably meaning an earlier release in Japan. Further announcements are expected to follow, such as the actual name of this long-awaited game.
The manga was first serialised in 1987 and entered its ninth part in March 2023, so there’s plenty of content to draw from, including the anime adaptation too. The latest season – season five – premiered in December 2021 on Netflix, adapting the sixth part of the manga.
Whether the JoJo mobile game will divert dramatically or remain faithful to source material remains to be seen, but KLab has confirmed it’s being based on the anime rather than the manga.
The developer is known for working with Japanese IP holders and delivering games to international audiences, from Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team to Bleach: Brave Souls, the latter having reached 90 million downloads worldwide this April.
Riding high on the success of Palworld, Pocket Pair has also partnered with KLab to create a hybridcasual game combining the former’s “strength in planning and developing unique games” and the latter’s “experience in mobile online games”. Whether the mobile game is based on Palworld or an entirely new IP has not yet been revealed.
