The resulting spin-off series, at least since Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, has caused some degree of confusion among fans and video game news sources, due to the game not actually being a part of the same series as the games titled Harvest Moon before it. In 2007, Natsume has taken the opportunity to develop their own video game series using the name Harvest Moon in North America and Europe, and in 2014, it released Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, the first farm simulator game in the new series. Because of this, Xseed began localizing the series to North America under the Story of Seasons title, beginning with the release of the game of the same name.
At that time, Natsume maintained the rights to the Harvest Moon series name after Marvelous announced that it would have its subsidiary, Xseed Games, take over North American distribution. Natsume initially distributed this series under the name Harvest Moon outside of Japan until 2014. The name ' Harvest Moon' was originally used for the series created by Marvelous known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari ( 牧場物語, lit.
