Koei Tecmo discusses brand outlook in Famitsu
Shibusawa Kou, Omega Force, Team Ninja, Ruby Party, and Gust.
The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has a big feature on Koei Tecmo, featuring interviews with representatives from each of the company’s five brands, who share hints and teases at what’s to come for the company.
Get the interview tidbits below.
Shibusawa Kou brand boss Kazuhiro Fujishige
Main IPs: Nobunaga’s Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Winning Post, Daikoukai Jidai, Nobunyaga’s Ambition, etc.
- In the next one or two years, we need to work on strengthening the brand.
- We’ll be launching new IP. And we also want to steadily establish existing IP like Nobunaga’s Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
- We want to put out a single hit smartphone game, so we’re making preparations to do that.
Omega Force brand boss Kenichi Ogasawara
Main IPs: Warriors series, Toukiden, Dragon Quest Heroes, etc.
- With Dragon Quest Heroes II, in order to go beyond what users expect, we’ve put far more power into this evolution than in normal numbered titles.
- (Regarding Dynasty Warriors 9…) I feel like the evolution from Dynasty Warriors 7 to 8 was insufficient. When the time comes to announce it, it’s going to have a greater impact than you can imagine.
- This year, we want to team up with high-profile IP users are eagerly anticipating to put out new content. We’ve already received some offers that we’re anxious to get into the development pipeline.
- We… may or may not be working on a project that combines our IPs, but will wow new players. (Laughs.)
Team Ninja brand boss Yosuke Hayashi
Main IPs: Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Fatal Frame, Deception, Monster Rancher
- Action games and fighting games are our mainstay, but since we have staff that developed games like Fatal Frame and Deception, we want to take advantage of their know-how in to make new titles such as those IP.
- We’re preparing a big surprise for Dead or Alive 5 in the future.
- New developments for Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 are under consideration.
- An update to add virtual reality support to Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is under consideration. We want to put it out as early as possible in accordance with PlayStation VR‘s release date.
Ruby Party brand boss Keiko Erikawa
Main IP: Neoromance
- We want to put out new developments in the Angelique, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de, Kiniro no Corda, and Geten no Hana IPs.
- There are plans to cultivate old titles and makes spin-offs, media mix, apps, etc.
- We’ve started by adopting media mix development and are currently exploring new Neoromance IPs.
- Besides this, we’re also making a completely new title that men can also enjoy.
Gust brand boss Hisashi Koinuma
Main IPs: Atelier, Gust titles
- Up until now there were projects we couldn’t do because we had a small amount of staff, but we’re working on beefing up our development line.
- The Atelier series will of course continue. We want to expand it even more.
- Yoshito Okamura is working on a new Atelier title as producer.
- Akira Tsuchiya is taking on the new products rather than those in a series.
- The Gust brand has yet to announce anything this year, but we’re preparing both home console and smartphone games.
- (Regarding the Atelier series’ 20th anniversary in 2017…) While we can’t say anything yet, we do want to show you something new.
Thanks, Hachima Kikou and Famitsu.