Koei has been active in the video game industry for many decades. The company was founded by husband-and-wife partners, Yōichi and Keiko Erikawa, in 1978 in Yokohama, Japan. Initially, they created business tools, but they later released a couple of erotic computer games that brought them into the computer gaming business. Their earliest games date back to the ‘80s on platforms such as the PC-8801, the FM-7, the MSX, and other Japanese home computers. In 1983, Koei would release the first game in a long-running series called Nobunaga no Yabō, or Nobunaga's Ambition in the West.

Nobunaga's Ambition is a historical simulation set in Japan's Sengoku period. Your goal is to unite Japan as Oda Nobunaga (or any other selectable daimyo) by carefully balancing resource management and strategic diplomatic decisions. You also control your people's economy and, beyond that, develop your military power. The game is played over years, with your character aging and potentially dying. This is a hardcore title for real strategy sickos. The success of the first game led to multiple sequels and ports/remakes through the ‘80s and ‘90s. Nobunaga's Ambition was translated and released in the West as early as 1988 on PC, and on the NES and other home consoles in 1989 and beyond. The series would even cross over with Pokémon in 2012 in the DS game Pokémon Conquest (Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan).

They would go on to become known for serious strategy and simulation titles, carving out a niche within gaming. With a small but dedicated enough fanbase, they remained profitable and eventually opened a North American subsidiary in 1988. Nobunaga's Ambition wasn’t the only strategy title the developer would make. They would also create the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series in 1985.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is more of a turn-based tactical role-playing simulation. Much like Nobunaga's Ambition, this is a title that isn’t for the faint of heart or casual player. It is a complex web of statistics, character growth, resource management, and decision-making. The earliest version was released for the PC-88, and it was later ported to the MSX, NES, Amiga, FM-7, and more. This series has seen numerous sequels, with the most recent entry released on PS4, Switch, and Windows in 2020.

Koei would continue on this path, establishing itself as a leader in the strategy genre and expanding its catalog. Genghis Khan, Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Top Management, Gemfire, Inindo: Way of the Ninja, Uncharted Waters, P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations, and dozens of other games would be released from 1990 to 1995. While these games have different settings, mechanics, and systems, they share common threads across the strategy, simulation, and role-playing genres. Koei had an established system, and the developer continued to grow in this space, but when would it ever break out of its self-created niche?

The earliest title I found that significantly distanced itself from the usual historical simulations and complex strategy is Stop That Roach! This was a Game Boy game released in 1994 in both Japan and North America. Players controlled an exterminator and were tasked with defending their sweets from cockroaches in an early tower-defense-style game. For a Game Boy game, it made sense to keep the game focused on a simple gameplay loop, as a traditional hardcore strategy game wouldn’t likely be possible on Nintendo’s portable device.

Key staff members were brought into the company around this time. Kenichi Ogasawara joined Koei with the goal of working on titles like Nobunaga's Ambition, but, lacking proper programming skills, he was instead assigned to training courses and to a team that ported titles from the PC-9801 to the SNES. Similarly, Hisashi Koinuma joined Koei after finishing school, having been a fan of the Romance series. His first assignment was also porting titles to the SNES. These two were part of a group that was identified for a new team within the company. Koei was looking to expand beyond its strategy catalog and began planning to create a team dedicated solely to this task.

In 1996, Koei would officially established this studio to create games beyond strategy and simulation titles. This new team, Omega Force, was founded by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara and would also include key names such as Hisashi Koinuma, Kazuta Imamura, Tatsuya Yazaki, Kageki Shimodo, and many other talent developers. Initially, the studio name was planned to be the last letter of the alphabet, Z, but due to outside cultural concerns, that was scrapped. Instead, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega, was chosen, but to avoid another potential conflict, they added Force to the end. In an interview with Ogasawara, Force was chosen as it sounded like “Fourth,” and this team was the fourth business division within Koei. They were the company's “last weapon.”

Omega Force’s first title didn’t stray far from their roots. Essentially spun off from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, the team was asked to create a game using 3D models and leverage the emerging hardware of the time. This game would become Dynasty Warriors (Sangoku Musō in Japan). It was a one-on-one 3D fighter that used motion-captured animations and focused on weapons and parrying rather than button combos and special moves. Think more Soulcalibur than Tekken. The title surprised attendees of the PlayStation Expo in 1996, where it was first unveiled. Next Generation magazine covered the show and shared this about its announcement, “KOEI’s new 3D fighting game, which was developed by Omega-Force. KOEI, as most readers will know, has a well-deserved reputation as a publisher of high quality, complex, dry, historical simulation games. Thus, the surprise at finding a 3D weapons-only combat game (that bears more than a passing resemblance to Soul Edge) at KOEI’s stand.”

With the positive reception of Dynasty Warriors, Omega Force was off to a great start. Next, they would develop something even further removed from the company's history. The adventure game called Enigma. Visually, the game reminds me of the early Resident Evil titles, using pre-rendered backgrounds with fully polygonal character models. You explore your environments to find shining items to unlock doors and find more items. Combat is primarily hand-to-hand, but still similar to the early RE titles. You hold a shoulder button to enter combat, and square and circle initiate left and right attacks, with triangle delivering a heavier attack. In a 1997 IGN interview, an uncredited Koei staffer discussed these early Omega Force titles and described Enigma as an “Indiana Jones meets Resident Evil” game. The game was initially planned for localization into English, but it was ultimately canceled.

1998 continued, and for their 3rd game, Omega Force returned to the 3D fighting genre. Destrega was directed by Akihiro Suzuki and designed by Kenichi Ogasawara. Instead of a weapons-based fighter like Dynasty Warriors, Destrega used an open rock-paper-scissors system. Players would need to think on their feet about which attack to choose, dashing to evade, combining different attacks, and countering with the winning move. The game also featured a solid story mode, praised by many critics at the time. The game's characters and setting were a completely original concept, much like Enigma, and Omega Force was on a roll. If Koei intended to allow Omega Force to fly on its own, it was succeeding both critically and financially, but the best was yet to come.

To close out the ‘90s, Omega Force took their talents to the latest hardware on the market: The Nintendo 64. Koei had a long history with Nintendo titles, having created and ported many of their early Japanese PC hits to both the Famicom/NES and Super Famicom/SNES. They were a multi-platform developer and had an original action title well-suited to the system and its new analog control. WinBack was first unveiled at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo and impressed attendees with a new third-person action title. Cover-based mechanics had been used in arcade titles like Time Crisis, but in WinBack, players would have direct control over the main character, Jean-Luc Cougar. While navigating levels, players can press an action button to take cover and “stick” to these locations, stepping out of cover to return fire before retreating to safety. In addition to the innovative cover system, players also had a laser sight to see where they were aiming, and could use the analog stick for precision shots. You can see the spirit of these mechanics influencing later titles such as Gears of War and Resident Evil 4.

Once the new millennium came, things for Omega Force would be blown wide open. The team began work on a new action title for the upcoming PlayStation 2, while Koei was developing the strategy title Kessen. Omega Force would release Dynasty Warriors 2 in North America (Shin Sangokumusō in Japan) as a launch title for the system on October 26th, 2000. Instead of a one-on-one fighter, this title was an open hack-and-slash action game. Players would choose characters from the same Romance of the Three Kingdoms setting, as this was essentially a spinoff of that series. Gameplay consists of mixing up light and heavy attacks, flashy special moves, capturing key locations, and defeating opposing generals. The goal is to win battles and unite China under the banner of the Wu, Shu, or Wei kingdoms.

Dynasty Warriors received mostly positive reviews, and the game sold well enough to allow Omega Force and Koei to continue the series. What followed next was a steady shift away from a developmental focus on original titles. Instead, Omega Force began to invest heavily in the Dynasty Warriors series, driven by the franchise's success and growing popularity. The series would feature 10 mainline entries over the next 2+ decades, along with more than 30 spin-offs, including Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, and expansions such as Xtreme Legends and Empires. There was no end in sight for this franchise, and Omega Force would begin to grow even larger than Koei itself.

The 2000s continued this trajectory with mainline and spinoff releases. New console generations enabled higher-resolution graphics and improved mechanics, but people were becoming quite familiar with the Three Kingdoms. What could possibly happen to catapult Omega Force even higher? Licensed opportunities. In 2007, the first licensed Dynasty Warriors was released. Developed by Omega Force, but published by Namco Bandai Games in North America and Japan, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam replaced the Three Kingdom leaders with mecha from Mobile Suit Gundam. Giant robots, space battles, lasers, and explosive attacks, all wrapped up in the familiar Dynasty Warriors packaging. This was an instant hit with me, and although game reviews were average, it was popular enough among fans to warrant two sequels. This would only be the beginning of the studio's licensed opportunities.

In 2009, Koei merged with another long-established Japanese company, Tecmo, which had its own history of iconic games. The two companies would merge to form Koei Tecmo, and operations would continue without any drastic changes to either company's development plans. Eventually, their internal teams would help support each other with auxiliary help for various projects.

In the years that followed, into the 2010s, mainline Dynasty Warriors games continued. Omega Force would return to create original titles, such as 2007's Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War. This was a real-time tactics game, set during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Omega Force would take up developmental duties on Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll for the PS3. This took the previous entries' turn-based approach into a real-time action battle system, and the game received mixed reviews. They also took on Capcom with a very Monster Hunter-inspired series, Toukiden. The first game in the series, Toukiden: The Age of Demons, was released for the PSP and allowed players to control a slayer, team up, and go hunting to defeat various oni. While none of these games were flops, none generated the same level of interest and success as the Dynasty Warriors series had.

More licensed opportunities came Omega Force’s way in this decade. Beyond the Gundam titles, Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage would take the Dynasty Warriors formula and combine it with the long-running, popular manga property. After that, One Piece: Pirate Warriors would be released, again published by Bandai Namco. Both titles would see sequels in the following years, and one of the biggest licensed collaboration opportunities was on the horizon. Having successfully merged their exciting and approachable gameplay with high-action properties, Omega Force was ready to become a legend.

Yosuke Hayashi, the lead developer at Team Ninja, who was now a developmental partner under the Koei Tecmo banner, discussed the possibility of partnering with Nintendo with then Koei Tecmo executive VP Hisashi Koinuma. Many staff members were big fans of The Legend of Zelda, and the studio would pitch its concept to Nintendo. Eiji Aonuma, producer and lead on the Zelda franchise at Nintendo, supported the idea, and the companies would officially announce their partnership. The game was shown off at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo and was playable for attendees. The game would be developed by Omega Force with support from Team Ninja, as a collaborative release. Koei Tecmo published the game in Japan, with Nintendo taking on worldwide publishing responsibilities themselves.

Omega Force would see further opportunities to collaborate with many more highly regarded franchise games. They would release multiple sequels to Hyrule Warriors. They took on another Nintendo property with Fire Emblem Warriors. They had partnerships with Square Enix with Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below. They partnered with another popular manga property and developed Berserk and the Band of the Hawk. A collaboration between Atlus and Sega resulted in Persona 5 Strikers.

Even with all the Warriors collaborations, Omega Force found itself creating original titles like Attack on Titan and its sequel, Dragon Quest Builders and its sequel. They would also create the original Wild Hearts for PS5, Xbox, PC, and Switch 2. This would be a game that brought crafting and combat into multiplayer, competing with Capcom for its own giant-monster-hunting title. In an unusual business collaboration, EA would publish the game rather than Koei Tecmo. When the game was ported to Switch 2, Koei Tecmo resumed its own publishing duties for the game, but it showed that the studio is being courted for development and original concepts, and not just Warriors titles.

Omega Force had now found a new peak of success and collaboration. The company began as an experiment to bolster Koei’s catalog with unique new titles beyond its traditional releases. Over the years, it evolved into a success story, building partnerships beyond Koei. Dynasty Warriors faced challenges and reached a low point after a critical failure in Dynasty Warriors 9. Still, the studio had too many connections and too much talent to fail on a single release. Since then, their most recent release, Dynasty Warriors: Origins, reimagined the core gameplay and style, delivering a well-received refresh the franchise needed. Omega Force has lived up to its name and is a genuinely creative developmental force. I will remain intrigued and excited when I see their name in the credits of an upcoming game. Here’s to another 30 years, Omega Force!