Griot Groove

What Griot Groove does

Griot Groove (株式会社グリオグルーヴ) is a Tokyo-based 3DCG and VFX production house founded in April 1996, employing approximately 100 staff across four physical studios (Takadanobaba HQ, Waseda/Studio IBUKI, Kyoto, Kobe). The firm delivers photorealistic CG modeling, animation, compositing, and motion capture services to film, television, video game, advertising, anime, and exhibition clients, with a franchise-level portfolio spanning Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Nintendo's Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, Bandai Namco's Tekken 8 and SAND LAND, Capcom's Street Fighter 6, Toho's Shin Ultraman, and Netflix originals including Alice in Borderland and ONI. Operationally, the company is structured around four integrated sub-brands — LiNDA (VFX/CG team led by Hayashida Hiroyuki), ANIMAROID (end-to-end motion capture-to-delivery CG production), CINEGRIOT (film planning and VFX production), Studio IBUKI (one of Japan's longest-running motion capture facilities, established 2000), and EDEN/Eden Lab (VR and future video development) — with Kobe Studio specializing in design and real-time CG.

The company's revenue model is professional services: project-based CG/VFX contracting quoted per engagement, with no publicly disclosed pricing and no consumer-facing or self-serve distribution channels. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting Japanese entertainment incumbents (Toho, NHK, Dentsu, Hakuhodo) and major game publishers, complemented by earned media through VFX-JAPAN Awards, Annie Award recognition, and CGWORLD coverage. Marketing channels are limited to the corporate website and an actively maintained news/portfolio page that functions as a live client reference; client acquisition depends on industry reputation and repeat engagement on franchises. In October 2022, the firm formed a strategic alliance with Megalis VFX (with representative director Sakamoto Masashi taking an Executive Producer role), and in May 2026 it joined the Cygames Group as a strategic operating subsidiary, providing a stable game-publisher parent. The core technology stack is third-party — Maya, MotionBuilder, AfterEffects, Houdini, Nuke, Blender — with no proprietary AI models, patents, or trademarks disclosed; differentiation rests on accumulated craft, mocap operational depth, and franchise relationships rather than on defensible IP.

Name

Griot Groove

Legal name

株式会社グリオグルーヴ

Website

https://griotgroove.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Griot Groove is a Tokyo-based 3DCG/VFX production house with ~100 staff, serving Japanese film, game, advertising, and anime clients with photorealistic modeling, animation, motion capture, and compositing across four studios. Now a Cygames Group subsidiary (May 2026), it also operates Studio IBUKI and EDEN VR lab.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. VFX/CG Production Services: Project-based CG and VFX production contracting for films, commercials, games, TV anime, exhibition videos, and amusement equipment. Revenue is earned per project as a production services fee.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Griot Groove is a Japanese 3DCG/VFX production house providing end-to-end computer graphics and visual effects services for feature films, commercials, video games, TV anime, exhibition videos, and amusement equipment. The company operates an integrated production structure with specialized teams for motion capture, realistic modeling and animation, real-time CG, and VR content development, serving as a contracted production service provider for major entertainment companies.

Product overview

Griot Groove is a 3DCG/VFX production company in its 31st year with approximately 100 staff members. The company operates as a unified holding structure with multiple specialized sub-brands: LiNDA (VFX/CG team), ANIMAROID (CG production with end-to-end motion capture), CINEGRIOT (film planning and VFX production), Studio IBUKI (motion capture studio), EDEN/Eden Lab (VR and future video development), and KOBE STUDIO (design and real-time CG). Together they provide comprehensive services across films, commercials, games, anime, exhibition videos, and amusement equipment, with expertise in realistic modeling and animation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LiNDA: Creative studio with CG artist Hayata H (林田宏之) leading the VFX/CG team
• CINEGRIOT
• ANIMAROID
• Studio IBUKI
• EDEN

Products and services

• LiNDA (VFX/CG Team) A VFX/CG team led by CG artist Hiroyuki Hayashida, specializing in cinematic visual effects and computer graphics production for films, commercials, and games.
• ANIMAROID (CG Production Team) A CG production team that produces motion capture through to delivery, offering end-to-end CG production services including modeling, animation, and compositing.
• CINEGRIOT (Film and VFX Production) A film planning and VFX production entity combining video production and VFX/CG production services for cinematic projects.
• Studio IBUKI (Motion Capture Studio) One of Japan's leading motion capture studios, operating for over 20 years on film production work, offering motion capture recording and data post-processing services.
• Kobe Studio (Real-time CG and Design) A studio specializing in design work and real-time CG, located in Kobe, established to contribute to trend creation from the historically trade-focused city.
• Jukai VR (VR Experience) A VR experience of artist Takashi Nemoto's 'Jukai' (Sea of Trees) painting, created to allow viewers to virtually experience the large-scale artwork.
• EDEN / Eden Lab (VR and Future Video Development) A VR-focused future video planning and development company, creating immersive virtual reality experiences and original content.

Quantifiable outcome

• VFX-JAPAN Award 2021 — Best Live Action Film (Top Prize) for 'Eizouken wa Te wo Dasu na!'
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers27 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Megalis VFXcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2021Partnership with Megalis VFX, a CG production company founded by former Hollywood VFX supervisor Daniel P. Ferreira in Japan. Griot Groove's representative Sakamoto Masashi became Executive Producer of Megalis VFX, establishing a deep operational and creative alliance for VFX production work.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Shirogumi: Tokyo-based VFX/CG production house with deep film and game VFX work, long-standing motion capture capabilities, and tier-1 Japanese entertainment clients. Direct competitor for film and streaming-series VFX budgets and one of Griot Groove's existing clients.
• Marza Animation Planet: Tokyo-based CG animation studio (SEGA Sammy subsidiary) producing CG feature films, series, and game cinematics. Comparable in CG production scale and premium client mix, with strong real-time CG capabilities.
• OLM Digital: Digital VFX division of OLM (Team Pokémon/Pikachu production heritage) handling CG and visual effects for film, TV, and games in Japan. Comparable end-to-end CG production capacity and an existing Griot Groove client.
• Digital Frontier: Long-established Tokyo VFX/CG production house serving film, game, and advertising clients with end-to-end production capability. Direct competitor for VFX and CG budgets across similar Japanese enterprise clients.
• Polygon Pictures: Tokyo-headquartered CG animation and VFX studio producing feature films, series, and game-related CG work. Highly comparable in scope of services (modeling, animation, VFX) and target clients, and is also a Griot Groove client.
• Sanzigen: Tokyo-based 3DCG animation studio (Tsuburaya Fields affiliate) producing CG anime series and films. Comparable in CG animation for broadcast/streaming clients and shares a Japanese entertainment vertical with Griot Groove.
• Megalis VFX: Tokyo-based VFX studio founded by former Hollywood VFX supervisor Daniel P. Ferreira; strategic partner of Griot Groove with overlapping executive leadership. Highly comparable service offering and target client base for high-end film and streaming VFX.
• ILCA: Japanese CG/game production studio with strong motion capture and character animation capabilities serving major game publishers. Direct competitor for game CG and motion capture work; also a Griot Groove client.

Broad incumbents

• Weta FX: New Zealand-based VFX studio (Wētā Workshop affiliate) producing premium visual effects for film and streaming globally. Comparable end-to-end CG/VFX capability and motion capture expertise; a benchmark incumbent for premium VFX work that streams and studios allocate to.
• Industrial Light & Magic: Lucasfilm's global VFX division operating at massive scale across feature film, streaming, and themed entertainment. While not a direct Japan-focused competitor, ILM is the dominant global incumbent for high-end VFX and sets pricing/quality benchmarks that affect Griot Groove's competitive positioning on international briefs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/griotgroove

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Griot Groove