Koei Tecmo’s AAA Growth Plans Could Be Great News for Fighting Game Fans

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 25, 2024 34 Views 7 Min Read



Dead or Alive was, at one point, one of the most popular fighting game franchises on the market, alongside the likes of Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat. When the first entry in the series was released internationally for arcades in 1996, it took the gaming world by storm. The game sold so well, in fact, that it saved its publisher, Tecmo, from going bankrupt. Later installments in the Dead or Alive franchise also had similar commercial success. Dead or Alive 3, as an example, was one of the top 10 best-selling games on the original Xbox, while Dead or Alive 4 and its free-to-play counterparts were downloaded more than 12 million times.




The Dead or Alive series technically isn’t dead, but it hasn’t received a new mainline installment in quite some time. The last proper fighting game in the franchise was 2019’s Dead or Alive 6, which garnered a somewhat contentious reputation among fans due to its excessive monetization. Aside from the occasional Asia-exclusive spin-off title like Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet and Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Extreme, the franchise’s lead developer, Team Ninja, has largely shifted its focus towards other intellectual properties within the last few years. That being said, some recent news regarding Koei Tecmo, the Japanese firm that owns Team Ninja, suggests that the next chapter of Dead or Alive may happen sooner rather than later.

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The Dead or Alive Series Could Soon Be Revived Thanks to Koei Tecmo’s New Strategy


Koei Tecmo Wants to Move Away from Mobile Games and Double Down on AAA Releases

During a shareholder Q&A session, Koei Tecmo shared its outlook on the future of the gaming industry and its plans to adapt to market trends. One of the major topics that the company discussed at the event was mobile gaming. While Koei Tecmo isn’t a major player in the mobile game market, it has adapted several of its flagship franchises for iOS and Android in recent times, including Atelier, Nobunaga’s Ambition, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In spite of these efforts, Koei Tecmo intends to scale back its investments in mobile gaming because, according to the firm, “significant growth is unlikely to be seen” in the field.

Instead of trying to increase its presence in the mobile game market, Koei Tecmo wants to double down on AAA video game development. Due to the recent success of big-budget video games from China and Korea (presumably Black Myth: Wukong and Stellar Blade, among other titles), Koei Tecmo believes that the console and PC game market will grow in the near future. Because of this, it aims to release AAA video games on an annual basis going forward. In order to achieve this lofty goal, the company intends to double its employee headcount from 2,500 to 5,000 in the coming years.


Bringing Dead or Alive Back Makes Sense, Considering Koei Tecmo’s Current Plans

Given how much renewed interest Koei Tecmo is showing in the AAA game market, the release of a new mainline Dead or Alive game seems more likely than ever. In fact, a recent statement from a developer at Team Ninja adds further credence to the idea. In an interview with TouchArcade from February 2024, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty director Masakazu Hirayama was asked if Koei Tecmo had any interest in reviving the Dead or Alive franchise. While Hirayama did state that the company didn’t have plans to bring the series back at the time, he said that it was “always considering the possibility” of making more Dead or Alive games.

The fighting game genre is currently undergoing a bit of a renaissance, in no small part due to the release of critically-acclaimed games like Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, and Guilty Gear Strive. Since Koei Tecmo is so adamant about expanding its footprint in the AAA market, it would be wise of them to capitalize on this resurgence by bringing the Dead or Alive series back with a new, numbered installment.


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