Omega Force (Japanese: オメガフォース) (stylised as ω-Force) is a Japanese video game developer and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1996 by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara,[2][3] and is best known for the Dynasty Warriors video games.
 | |
Native name | オメガフォース |
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Akihiro Suzuki Kenichi Ogasawara |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Key people | Tomohiko Sho (president)[1] |
| Products | Dynasty Warriors series Samurai Warriors series One Piece: Pirate Warriors series |
| Parent | Koei (1996–2010) Koei Tecmo (2010–present) |
History
editOmega Force was founded in 1996 as the fourth Business Division of Koei, with the intention of widening the appeal of Koei's portfolio outside of their strategy and simulation games, such as Romance of Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition. Kenichi Ogasawara originally joined Koei in hopes of being able to work on Nobunaga's Ambition, of which he was fan, as a planner. Due to his lack of programming skills he was assigned to a training course to become a programmer, whilst porting games from NEC PC-9801 to the Super Nintendo. Ogasawara, after being promoted to planner, was then tasked by Koei to create a 3D action game utilising the technological capabilities of the PlayStation. This resulted in the development of Dynasty Warriors and the establishment of Omega Force.[4]
The studio was originally going to be named after the letter Z, however this idea never came to fruition as the letter Z can have different meanings outside of Japanese culture. Wanting to keep the last letter of the alphabet, they settled for Omega from the Greek alphabet. However, because of copyright concerns with the clock manufacturing company Omega SA, Force was added – a Japanese homophone for "fourth" – representing that they are the fourth business division.[4]
WinBack, released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, pioneered the cover-based third-person shooter and inspired games such as Kill Switch, Gears of War, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It also featured an early rendition of a laser sight mechanic for weapon aiming, which would later be seen in games such as Resident Evil 4. The cover system has since become a staple of the third-person shooter genre.[5][6] With WinBack, which was originally shown off at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo and later at the 1999 Nintendo Space World trade show,[7] Omega Force was once again tasked by Koei to create a title it wasn't known for.[8]
In 2016 Kenichi Ogasawara mentioned during an interview with Famitsu that the next entry in their key franchise Dynasty Warriors, titled Dynasty Warriors 9, was in development. He hoped to have a greater impact with Dynasty Warriors 9, as he mentioned "the evolution from Dynasty Warriors 7 to 8 was insufficient".[9] Producers Masaki Furusawa and Akihiro Suzuki planned to overhaul the franchise's often criticized combat system.[10][11] In 2018, Omega Force released Dynasty Warriors 9, moving the franchise from its arena-based combat to an open-world.[10]
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the third collaboration project between Omega Force and Nintendo, released in 2020, became the best-selling Warriors game,[12] as well as the developer's best-selling title, shipping over 4 million copies as January 2022.[13]
In 2022, Omega Force announced a partnership with Electronic Arts, along with its parent company Koei Tecmo. Their new game, Wild Hearts, would be published under their EA Originals label.[14] The game was officially announced on September 23, 2022.[15] Wild Hearts' director, Kotaro Hirata, mentioned that Dynasty Warriors has become a pillar franchise for Omega Force, and that with Wild Hearts, they wanted another strong pillar franchise for Omega Force, hoping to widen their audience, and create more internationally appealing titles.[16] EA's Andrew Wilson mentioned in an investor meeting, that the success of Monster Hunter led to EA greenlighting the title.[17]
Games
editWarriors games
editThe Warriors series, known in Japan as the Musō (無双, lit. "Unrivaled") series, is an action game series created by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo. The meta-series contains various series, such as the Dynasty Warriors games, the One Piece: Pirate Warriors games, and various spin-offs.
Dynasty Warriors
editDynasty Warriors, known in Japan as Sangokumusou (三國無双, Sangokumusō, lit. "Three Kingdoms Unrivaled"), is the first and the largest Warriors subseries. In Japanese, all games after Dynasty Warriors 2 carry the Shin · Sangokumusou (真・三國無双, Shin · Sangokumusō, lit. "True · Three Kingdom Unrivalled") title, but English localizations continue to use Dynasty Warriors, putting all international releases a number ahead of their Japanese counterparts.
Main series
edit| Year | Title | Genre | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997[18] | Dynasty Warriors | Fighting game | PlayStation | Known as Sangokumusou (三國無双, Sangoku Musō) in Japan. |
| 2000[19] | Dynasty Warriors 2 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3[20] | Known as Shin · Sangokumusou (真・三國無双) in Japan. |
| 2001[21][22] | Dynasty Warriors 3 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, Xbox | An expansion Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends (known as Shin · Sangokumusou 2 Moushouden in Japan) was released in 2002 |
| 2003[23] | Dynasty Warriors 4 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows | Several expansions were released: Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends, Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires and Dynasty Warriors 4: Hyper |
| 2005 | Dynasty Warriors 5 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows | Several expansions were released: Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends, Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires and Dynasty Warriors 5: Special |
| 2007[24][25][26] | Dynasty Warriors 6 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, [27] Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows | Several expansions were released: Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires and Dynasty Warriors 6: Special |
| 2011 | Dynasty Warriors 7 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows[28] | Several expansions were released: Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends, Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires and Dynasty Warriors 7: Special |
| 2013[29][30] | Dynasty Warriors 8 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows | Several expansions were released: Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends and Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires |
| 2018[31][32][33] | Dynasty Warriors 9 | Action, Hack and slash | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows | An expansion Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires was released |
| 2025[34] | Dynasty Warriors: Origins | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows |
Spin-offs
editSamurai Warriors
editSamurai Warriors, known as Sengokumusou (戦国無双, Sengoku Musō, lit. "Unrivaled Warring States") is the series based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history.
Warriors Orochi and Warriors All-Stars
editWarriors Orochi, known as Musou Orochi (無双OROCHI, Musō Orochi) in Japan, is a series developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors.
| Year | Title | Genre | Platform(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Warriors Orochi | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2008 | Warriors Orochi 2 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 | Known as Musou Orochi Maou Sairin (無双OROCHI 魔王再臨, Musō Orochi Maō Sairin, lit. "Unrivalled Orochi Demon Lord Rebrith") in Japan. |
| 2009 | Musou Orochi Z | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2011 | Warriors Orochi 3 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows | Known as Musou Orochi 2 (無双OROCHI 2, Musō Orochi Tsū) in Japan. |
| 2017 | Warriors All-Stars | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows | Crossover between multiple Koei Tecmo franchises such as Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Toukiden and Atelier.[37] |
| 2018 | Warriors Orochi 4 | Action, Hack and slash | PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows |
Licensed
editOther
editReferences
edit- ^ "ゲーム業界の165人が2022年を振り返り，新年への抱負を語る。年末恒例のコメント集企画". 4gamer (in Japanese). December 29, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Phillips, Tom (September 24, 2014). "How a passion for Zelda is driving Dynasty Warriors to fresh audiences". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ "Nioh 2 Reveal and More Possibly Coming from Koei Tecmo in 2019". PlayStation LifeStyle. December 28, 2018. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Iwata, Satoru (April 26, 2012). "Iwata Asks: "Nintendo 3DS" Software Maker Creator Edition: Dynasty Warriors VS". Iwata Asks (in Japanese). Nintendo. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "Gaming's most important evolutions". GamesRadar. October 8, 2010. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^ Gordon, Shawn (October 11, 2009). "Greatest "Retro" Console Games of All Time". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^ "Winback (Preview)". N64 Magazine. No. 34. Future Publishing. November 1999. p. 22.
- ^ "All Format Previews: Winback". Gamers' Republic. No. 5. October 1998. p. 58.
- ^ Ramsey, Robert (May 18, 2016). "Dynasty Warriors 9 Announcement will 'Have a Greater Impact than You Can Imagine'". Push Square. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ a b Romano, Sal (December 17, 2016). "Dynasty Warriors 9 announced". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^ Higley, Christian (September 9, 2011). "Five Problems With the Dynasty Warriors Formula and How to Fix Them". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^ Craddock, Ryan (November 24, 2020). "Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Is Already The Best-Selling Warriors Game Of All Time". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ Romano, Sal (January 5, 2022). "Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity shipments and digital sales top four million". Gematsu.
- ^ Carter, Justin (September 14, 2022). "EA partners with Koei Tecmo and Omega Force on new game". Game Developer. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (September 28, 2022). "EA and Dynasty Warriors devs reveal their take on Monster Hunter". Polygon. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ^ Webster, Andrew (October 11, 2022). "Wild Hearts' monsters will make you feel threatened — even the cute ones". The Verge. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ Obedkov, Evgeny (November 2, 2022). "EA betting big on Wild Hearts, expects Marvel partnership to have same impact on its business as Star Wars games". Game World Obeserver. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ "『真・三國無双7』完成披露発表会が開催 布袋寅泰ほか豪華ゲストが登場、"HOTEI呂布"など衝撃コラボも発表 - ファミ通.com". ファミ通.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Perry, Doug (October 23, 2000). "Dynasty Warriors 2". Archived from the original on September 29, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "The Game That Started The Dynasty Warriors Empire Is Now A PS2 Classic". November 28, 2012. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
- ^ "『真・三國無双シリーズコレクション上巻』の発売が決定！ - ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Perry, Doug (November 28, 2001). "Dynasty Warriors 3". Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Dunham, Jeremy (March 21, 2003). "Dynasty Warriors 4". Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "KOEI official site". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Article Detail – PlayStation 3 News – QJ.NET Archived November 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Parfitt, Ben (November 20, 2007). "Dynasty Warriors 6 announced". www.mcvuk.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Shin Sangokumusou 5 Special Release Information for PSP". GameFAQs. October 22, 2009. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ^ "Dynasty Warriors 7 Hits PC on March 9". Andriasang.com. January 6, 2012. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
- ^ PS3F (December 6, 2012). "Dynasty Warriors 8: New Faces Plus Japanese Release Date Announced". PlayStation News International. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
Shin Sangokumusou 7 will storm PS3s in Japan on February 28th. A western release is likely but remains TBA.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "DYNASTY WARRIORS 8 RELEASE DATE CHANGE". Tecmo Koei Europe. June 21, 2013. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
- ^ "真・三國無双８". 真・三國無双８. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "Dynasty Warriors 9". Dynasty Warriors 9. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "Dynasty Warriors 9". Dynasty Warriors 9. Archived from the original on May 14, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Bailey, Kat (May 30, 2024). "Dynasty Warriors Origins Announced - State of Play 2024". IGN. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Tanaka, John (July 29, 2009). "Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce Set for Xbox 360". IGN. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
- ^ "Dynasty Warriors Next International Releases". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Koei Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, Toukiden and Atelier cross over in Musou Stars". Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Wheeler, CJ (September 13, 2022). "The next EA Original is a fantasy hunting game set in feudal Japan from Koei Tecmo". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (September 26, 2022). "EA's Koei Tecmo hunting game is 'Wild Hearts'". VGC. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
External links
edit
- Koei Tecmo America
- Koei Tecmo Europe
- Koei Tecmo Japan (in Japanese)