Hamster Corporation was founded in November 1999 in
Setagaya Ward, Tokyo as an offshoot of the gaming division of
Toshiba-EMI Limited. In April 2000, Hamster began releasing games in its budget-priced Major Waves series on the
PlayStation. In its early years, Hamster also focused on web development, working on web portals for internet and gaming companies. Its own online store was launched in June 2001. In 2002, the company launched its Arcade Hits line. In January 2003, Hamster helped to launch Game Excavation Island,
Konami's
i-mode gaming website. In 2005, it also launched the Oretachi Gasen Zoku series, focusing on cult arcade games. When DeNA revamped its Mobage Town game site in 2008, Hamster contributed an online version of its The Convenience Store game. The company started releasing
Virtual Console games on the
Wii in 2010,
3DS in 2011, and
Wii U in 2013. In March 2014, Hamster acquired the rights to
Nihon Bussan's video game catalog. The
Arcade Archives series began the same year, re-releasing classic games on the
PlayStation 4. The first three titles were
Crazy Climber,
Ninja-Kid, and
Rygar. In December, the company began its Appli Archives series for
PlayStation Mobile devices. In 2016, Hamster acquired the rights to UPL's catalog. The company started releasing games on a weekly basis when the
Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. The first titles announced were Nintendo games, including
Mario Bros.,
VS. Super Mario Bros.,
VS. Balloon Fight,
VS. Ice Climber,
VS. Pinball,
VS. Clu Clu Land, and
Punch-Out!! Hamster acquired the rights to
NMK's games in June in 2017 and began publishing
Irem's games in November 2017. It also acquired the rights to Video System's catalog in March 2018. In June 2018, Hamster re-released the original
Donkey Kong arcade game on the
Nintendo eShop. Nintendo's
Sky Skipper was also re-released the following month. In April 2019, Hamster re-released a 1983 arcade title
Donkey Kong 3 as part of the
Arcade Archives series. The company also co-developed
Arcade Classics: Anniversary Collection with assistance from
Konami. In September 2019, Hamster was recognized by
Guinness World Records for the most consecutive releases on the Nintendo eShop (133 weeks). In October 2019, the company released Nintendo's
Golf as part of the
Arcade Archives series. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Hamster transitioned to remote work in March 2020. After
CERO went on hiatus, the company had resorted to adjust its release schedule and concentrate on games to which the company owned the rights in order to continue its release streak. The company's CEO Satoshi Hamada slept at the office until he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for over a month in 2021. During that time, Hamster still managed to maintain its release schedule. The company released
VS. Wrecking Crew in April 2020. In June 2020, Hamster announced it would be releasing Nintendo's
Super Punch-Out!! and
VS. Baseball. That same month, it also released Konami's
Sunset Riders as the 100th title in the same series. In 2021, Hamster and
Taito announced a collaboration that would be the start of its
Taito Milestones series. In October, it was reported that the company had filed a trademark for "Console Archives" leading to speculation that Hamster would expand beyond re-releasing arcade games. In 2022,
Sega released the Astro City Mini V mini console and it included three Nichibutsu titles;
Moon Cresta (1980),
Cosmo Police Galivan (1985) and
Terra Cresta (1985). Hamster contributed several games to the release. In November 2022, the company reached 300 consecutive weeks of releases. In commemoration, Hamster announced the inclusion of
Galaxian (1979) and
Tetris: The Grand Master (1998), the first 32-bit arcade game by
Arika in the
Arcade Archives series. The company acquired the rights to Allumer's catalog in February 2023. The first re-release was the card game
Magical Speed in 1994. It also acquired the rights to
Athena's games in September 2023, starting with a 1991 arcade
shoot 'em up Strike Gunner S.T.G.. By 2023, Hamster had over 50 people in development and QA working on its
Arcade Archives series. Its team in Hokkaido works on the company's emulators. That August, Hamster relocated its head office from
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo to
Yoga. In September, the company announced the
ACA Neo Geo Selection series, a physical collection of previously released Neo Geo games. In 2025, Hamster debuted its
Arcade Archives 2 series with the 1993 release of
Ridge Racer for the
Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. The series adds a redesigned user interface and additional game modes with "Time Attack Mode" exclusively added to
Arcade Archives 2. The company had released its 500th title,
Space Invaders (1978), on December 25, 2025. ==Games==