Who are Criware?

Criware is a set of middleware software for video game development created by former Japanese developer CRI Middleware. They stopped developing games themselves since the end of the Dreamcast in 2001 but they are now a middleware tools company who are now used by most of the big Japanese video game companies (i.e. Capcom, Sega, SquareEnix, Nintendo, Konami). Whenever you boot up a Japanese game you will probably see the Criware logo, meaning Criware middle was used in its development.

Middleware connects different software components or applications; Criware’s range of middleware products focus on video, audio playback and encoding, lipsyncing, audio design and file management. The benefits are:

• Decrease in development time.
• Decrease in development costs.
• Focus on content creation, not the technology.
• Integration/interoperability between different software components.

So there if you have ever wondered what Criware was, now you know.