Editing Toaplan (section)

{{Short description|Japanese video game developer}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=vg|東亜プラン|date=October 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Toaplan Co., Ltd.
| logo = File:Toaplan logo.svg
| logo_size = 120px
| trade_name = Toaplan
| native_name = 株式会社東亜プラン
| native_name_lang = ja
| romanized_name = Kabushiki gaisha Tōapuran
| type = [[Kabushiki gaisha]]
| industry = [[Video games]]
| fate = [[Bankruptcy]]
| founded = {{start date and age|April 1979}}
| founder = Kiyoshi Motoyoshi
| defunct = {{start date and age|March 1994}}
| hq_location = Shimizu, [[Suginami]], [[Tokyo]]
| area_served = [[Japan]]
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list
 | Taizo Hayashi ([[President (corporate title)|president]])
 | Yoshiyuki Kiyomoto ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])
 }}
| products = [[Video games]]
}}

{{nihongo foot|'''Toaplan Co., Ltd.'''|株式会社東亜プラン|Kabushiki gaisha Tōapuran|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} was a Japanese [[video game developer]] based in [[Tokyo]]. It was best known for its catalogue of [[scrolling shooter]]s and other [[arcade video game]]s. The company was founded in 1979 but its gaming division was established in 1984 by former Orca and Crux employees, who wanted to make games, after both companies declared bankruptcy. Their first shoot 'em up game, ''[[Tiger-Heli]]'' (1985) on arcades, was a success and helped establish Toaplan as a leading producer of shooting games throughout the 1980s and 1990s that would continue to characterize their output.

Though initially exclusive to arcades, they expanded with the [[Sega Genesis]] in 1990. The company ceased development of shoot 'em up projects before declaring bankruptcy in 1994. Several offshoot developers such as [[Eighting]], [[Tamsoft]], [[Cave (company)|CAVE]], [[Gazelle (software company)|Gazelle]], and [[Takumi Corporation]] were formed prior to and after the closure, while former members later joined to other studios such as [[Bandai Namco Entertainment]], [[Capcom]], [[Square Enix]] and [[Taito]]. Toaplan has since earned recognition from critics, being called one of the greatest and most influential Japanese shoot 'em up developers and "master" of the scrolling shooter genre.<ref name="DDPr-TfeotJ"/><ref name="T30gvgttf-p2"/>