On Monday, Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa Corporation and Singaporean videogame developer Garena announced that they are co-producing an anime adaptation of Garena's Garena Free Fire battle royale mobile game, with a Japanese studio in charge of the animation. Kadokawa's Kadokawa Qingyu subsidiary — Kadokawa’s overseas branch — is the production manager, and the anime is planned to be broadcast and streamed worldwide. They haven't revealed any story details about the upcoming anime, but expect more information soon.
This deal shouldn't surprise fans of the game since Garena Free Fire has collaborated with popular anime franchises such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan, and One-Punch Man. The deal was finalized by Joseph Ong, managing director at Garena; Harold Teo, director at Garena; Takashi Sensui, executive officer at Kadokawa; and Shinya Kato, senior vice president of global business at Kadokawa.
This is Kadokawa's first update on their plans to have an overseas division that will handle the rights of IP in Japan and internationally. The Japanese media conglomerate previously announced that it's building an in-house studio as it wants to strengthen its licensing business by putting anime rights under “All Rights.” In addition, the company aims to produce longer anime series with multiple seasons and episodes to develop its licensing business. But considering the lack of studios and human resources in the anime business, it plans to bring in an in-house animation production.
What is Garena Free Fire about?
Like other videogames in the battle royale genre, Garena Free Fire is a third-person shooter that features players being dropped into a large island alongside dozens of other competitors, collecting items and weapons as they go. The game's objective is to be the last one to survive the battle royale, varying strategies between actively hunting down enemies, or attempting to hide as other players eliminate each other.
An synopsis for Garena Free Fire reads:
Garena Free Fire is an immersive battle royale game created specifically with mobile gamers in mind. Developed and published globally by Garena, Garena Free Fire was the world’s most-downloaded mobile game from 2019 to 2021, and the most-downloaded mobile battle royale in 2022 and 2023, according to data.ai. Aside from the classic battle royale mode, Garena Free Fire also offers other engaging game modes that can be enjoyed by all, such as Clash Squad, Pet Mania, Zombie Invasion, and more.
You can check out more information about Garena Free Fire in the official trailer:
