Square Enix Co., Ltd., today (Wednesday) announced that it will launch a digital manga store serving customers in North America and France this fall.
Localized electronic editions of such popular Square Enix manga series as Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater will be made available for the PC via the Square Enix group's North American and European Web sites.
Square Enix currently releases manga titles in 20 countries overseas through partnerships with local publishers. Series in circulation include Fullmetal Alchemist, with cumulative foreign shipments now surpassing 10 million units, as well as others that continue to garner worldwide acclaim, such as Soul Eater and Black Butler.
“Given the increasing popularity of electronic reading formats, Square Enix has decided to take advantage of the online distribution infrastructure originally developed for its games business, along with the company's existing payment system and online fan communities in order to establish a paid digital distribution channel to better serve the varied needs of its global customers,” the company said in a release.
Square Enix will continue to work with its existing regional publishing licensees to promote both electronic and print versions of titles, while aiming to deter piracy by establishing an official web-based distribution source.
Square Enix will be demonstrating the new service on machines at Comic-Con International, which starts today and continued through July 25 in San Diego, Calif. In addition, the first chapters of Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Black Butler and O-Parts Hunter are available for download free of charge on the Square Enix group's North American and European Web sites in advance of the paid service's launch, with other series planned to follow.
Details on the number and pricing of titles available at the store's launch will be announced at a later date.
Source: PR Newswire
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