Bug Princess and DeathSmiles developer Cave to shift focus toward social games

Cave has announced that it will be putting some of its content on hold and channelling its resources into social games.

The Japanese developer responsible for highly regarded bullet hell shooters like DeathSmiles, DoDonPachi Resurrection, and Bug Princess revealed it had been forced to reduce its earning forecast for the year, after less-than-anticipated sales results.

Cave blamed poor sales on reduced orders from wary retailers, who have themselves been suffering in the current economic climate.

Although this shift towards social gaming might seem like a drastic change of direction for the company, Cave has actually been making social games for some time in Japan.

The company’s portfolio already features a PC-based MMO, as well as a variety of social mobile games for Japanese platforms GREE and Mobage.