#Japan #Osaka #JR West #JP UNIVERSE #RPG Platform

Strategic Alliance between JR West and JP UNIVERSE

JR West (West Japan Railway Company) and JP UNIVERSE have announced a strategic alliance aimed at creating innovative value in the XR (Cross Reality) space. This collaboration focuses on addressing social challenges such as regional revitalization by leveraging JP UNIVERSE's RPG platform, "Ryugu-koku."

Background of the Collaboration

JR West has been actively working on a project called "Virtual Station," which aims to recreate and expand the functionalities of real-world train stations in a virtual setting. This initiative has garnered praise from domestic and international visitors, with over 50 million users experiencing the virtual station. It emphasizes co-creation by intertwining user-generated content (UGC) with real experiences.

In contrast, real-world communities face complex challenges including an aging population, rural depopulation, and a hollowing out of industries, making traditional government-led or individual corporate efforts insufficient. What is now needed is a system of co-creation that integrates residents, businesses, and local governments.

With this backdrop, JR West and JP UNIVERSE are launching a “co-creative social challenge resolution project” centered around the RPG platform "Ryugu-koku." This platform proposes a vision of “Another Japan” by creating a universe based on the 47 prefectures, where users can modify and expand the world, items, and events. The initiative aims to generate an economy connecting gaming with real-world tourism resources and local products, enabling diverse stakeholders—users, companies, and local governments—to participate in regional revitalization.

Shared Vision behind the Strategic Alliance

The alliance illustrates both companies' commitment to tackling social issues faced by Japan's regions through a co-creative approach that bridges the real and virtual spaces. They share a strong determination to create new value aimed at revitalizing local areas, capitalizing on XR technology to encourage participation from all.

JR West brings its rich real assets from the railway business and connections with local municipalities and enterprises, while JP UNIVERSE contributes expertise in game design and UGC facilitation. By combining these strengths, they aspire to create novel customer experiences that link the real and virtual worlds and establish an inclusive co-creation platform.

Future Prospects

Unifying Everyday Life and the Extraordinary

The collaboration aims to erase the boundaries between daily activities and entertainment by intertwining the real world with gaming in a groundbreaking customer experience.

A Future of User and Business Co-Creation

Rather than a one-sided provision of services, they intend to harness UGC expertise to merge user creativity with business activities, generating new value in the process.

Revitalizing Regions with Stakeholder Engagement

By evolving into a useful business platform for a variety of stakeholders, including businesses, local governments, and individuals, they aim to achieve the vision of “Regional Revitalization 2.0,” fostering sustainable development through widespread co-creation.

This initiative focuses on utilizing gaming as a hook to engage various stakeholders in co-creating a new value that revitalizes local areas. The first step is the introduction of “Ryugu-koku - Tottori,” scheduled for launch in 2026. Further details will be communicated through press releases in the future, so stay tuned!

About Ryugu-koku

"Ryugu-koku" is an RPG-based creative and economic platform developed by JP UNIVERSE as part of the "Japan Metaverse Economic Zone" initiative. Designed with the theme of “Japan to the world,” it integrates creator economies and corporate promotions within RPG environments inspired by Japanese mythology. Through its unique middleware, "OwnWorld," Ryugu-koku aims to establish a network with other creative platforms, developing offerings for both Asian and global markets, with a beta version set for release in 2026.