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[Zhangyi]

So, I've been a loyal fan of Koei since I was 4. Which was 14 years ago. I've played all the Dynasty Warriors, ROTK'S, Samurai Warriors, Nobunaga's Ambition's, Bladestorm, Warriors of Troy, Kessen's, Warriors Orochi's, and that's mainly what I have. ( Warriors Orochi 3 gets a 10/10 from me btw. )

So I didn't know where else to post this, but here. I've been reading around, and lurking through forums everywhere, and saw a post by someone on this site that really intrigued me. What is going on at Koei? Are they running out of business, stopping all North America games from going there, including Dynasty Warriors?


Honestly, I love Koei, I love Dynasty Warriors, the game Dynasty Warriors has had a big impact on my life then probably anything else I've ever had in my life. It's shaped who I am today. And I would hate to see Koei stop sending games to America.

So my question is, and sorry for the long post, what's going on at Koei? Will there be a DW7:Empires? A ROTK 12 in North America? Is Samurai Warriors done in America, so no more here? If anyone could answer this, a 1000 thanks.

From - A loyal Koei fan.

[Nick]

I don't believe Koei has officially said anything yet, but they definitely seem to be pulling a lot of their support out of America and the west in general. I have heard rumors the Koei is considering pulling out completely, but these r just rumors for now.

[Rivus]

It may be cruel to say, but the quality of Koei games seem to be in decline. The only exception that I'll make is DW7, but I think a lot of Warrior fans have just had enough the series as it does seem to be stagnating, I don't have any statistics, but I bet sales for 7 were less then 6 here in the west. Even Koei's non warrior games seem to be doing worse.

I blame Koei and their inability to keep the western market interested. There is just been too mush rehashing going on, and forgive me again for saying it but their games just are not getting any better. Koei doesn't put much investment into the western market and so they get the same return. Look at Troy Warriors for example, it was probably a decent game but unless you were a die hard Koei fan you'd never hear a single thing about it. I don't even remember seeing it in stores!

If Koei what's the western market to be profitable they're going to have to go where the money is; and right now I believe that would be Steam. Koei would start seeing some returns on their English PC Ports if they put them on steam. Dynasty Warriors 4 Hyper and Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI. In fact, I bet they would sell well enough to bring some new members here and to call for an official English Power Up Kit. This might even lead to them localizing their other PC games as well.

Even if they don't sell well, Koei would still reach a large portion of the western PC gaming market and potentially make some money without having to spend any. So why haven't they done it yet?

[Sazac]

Didn't DW7 make it to the top 10 sales chart in Europe? Or were you just talking about NA?

Either way, I think it just comes down to literally no marketing. NA gets ALL of it's news second-hand, from the European branch. On one hand, I see why they might not want to put money into NA, but on the other, how do they expect to make ANY sales without doing ANYTHING to market their games? Warriors: LoT is the perfect exemple. No one even knew when that game was even coming out! Honestly, despite the bad reputation Warriors games usually get over here, I'm sure TK could still turn a profit if they worked with places like Gamestop for preorders and actively pursued Western media.


Also, I'd like to take the time to point out the bottom of the screen. "©2006 Koei Co. Ltd." Maybe it's just because they refuse to update these forums, but it's a pretty accurate portrayal of the company's western branch right now. They're living in the past, wether it be not making use of digital distribution like Steam, or expecting their games to sell themselves, Koei's head is stuck in 2006.

[silvanthalas]

I've been a fan of Koei's for +20 years now. Yes, I go back to the original Rot3K, GK, and NA days on the NES.

As I've said here before, it seems the merger with Tecmo was nothing but bad news for Koei in North America. Since that's happened, news, titles, and pretty much all support (look at this forum as a prime example) have all but dried up.

So, at this point, I consider Koei in North America on life support. It just seems like a matter of time before somebody pulls the plug.

[Yue Fei]

Didn't DW7 make it to the top 10 sales chart in Europe? Or were you just talking about NA?

Either way, I think it just comes down to literally no marketing. NA gets ALL of it's news second-hand, from the European branch. On one hand, I see why they might not want to put money into NA, but on the other, how do they expect to make ANY sales without doing ANYTHING to market their games? Warriors: LoT is the perfect exemple. No one even knew when that game was even coming out! Honestly, despite the bad reputation Warriors games usually get over here, I'm sure TK could still turn a profit if they worked with places like Gamestop for preorders and actively pursued Western media.


Also, I'd like to take the time to point out the bottom of the screen. "©2006 Koei Co. Ltd." Maybe it's just because they refuse to update these forums, but it's a pretty accurate portrayal of the company's western branch right now. They're living in the past, wether it be not making use of digital distribution like Steam, or expecting their games to sell themselves, Koei's head is stuck in 2006.

The forum itself (i.e. what makes it run) is updated by our System Admin, who logs on periodically to update the forum software. But because we lack a proper website administrator, none of the actual stuff on the forum can be updated.

I'm still trying to get some sort of contact, but all venues seem to be closed. I'll keep everyone posted if something new happens.

[Date Masamune]

I think Koei is giving up on North American. I think we will see less and less come over here. Samurai Warriors 3 being only for PS3 and Wii is a sign of this to me as those a Japanese consoles. So I think overall Koei is starting to become more exclusive to Japan and appeal to it's many Japanese customers.

I have been a fan of Koei since I was 9 years old. I am 16 now. I remember my cousin came over for my birthday in the 4th grade. When he came over he brought over Dynasty Warriors 4 for the PS2 and ever since then I have been hooked. I love Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and Warriors Orochi. All I have left to do is play Warriors Orochi 3. I would say the games have been apart of my life as well. It has inspired me to learn and be interested in history, and both Chinese and Japanese culture.

[Balakirev]

It might be worth remembering that in 1996 KOEI also suddenly pulled the plug on their NA operation, within less than 6 months after Balor of the Evil Eye was released.  The company simply decided to let everyone over here go.  I spoke to the PR rep I was dealing with at the time, and he was frankly bewildered because no information was passed down.

So if that's happening again, it wouldn't be exactly without precedent.  Decisions appear to be in this respect without input from the NA team; and if KOEI decides to reopen its division here again, presumably they'll do it just as suddenly, and without advance notice.