What are Koei Tecmo working on... A look at their studios
This is the first year we are including Koei Tecmo in our list and if you check out their list of titles released in 2025, you can see why. While they were a consistent publisher, they have exploded over the past few years, so we are putting them in this time.
What sets the group apart from many others in our series, is that they do release games only in Japan or Asia. They are not the only ones to do that, Capcom and Bandai Namco do it as well, but these guys have been doing it for the longest time.
These are the games that were published in 2025, with those titles that are bolded being original releases:
Dynasty Warriors: Origins - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Ninja Gaiden II Black - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Warriors: Abyss - Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Rise of the Rōnin - PC
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land - Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme - PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 - Asia Only
Winning Post 10 2025 - Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 - Japan Only
Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition - Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5
Wild Hearts S - Nintendo Switch 2
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian - Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - Nintendo Switch 2*
Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Harukanaru Toki no Naka de: Ryuuguu no Miko - Android, iOS - Japan Only
*Game was published in Japan by Koei Tecmo, outside of Japan by Nintendo
While this is the first year for Koei Tecmo, we have other years you can check out including 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
AAA Games Studio
Known for: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment | Last game released: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
This group is one of the newest division and was spun up by Yosuke Hayashi, who has produced and directed games in the Ninja Gaiden series, directed the first Nioh game and worked on the Dead or Alive series, and it’s unique spin-off. The first game that the division made was Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which released last year for Nintendo Switch 2. Given past games did get DLC, there is a chance we will get some for the game, but nothing has been announced. While the company has some groups that can pump games out, the new studio smell is still on this group, so there is no telling if we will see anything from them, beyond some DLC, in 2026.
Gust
Known for: Atelier, Fairy Tail | Last game released: Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian
This is one of those studios that makes one thing and one thing very well, the Atelier series. Last year they dropped two games in the series, one was a brand new game and one was a enhanced/retelling of a mobile game. Oh, they also remastered the Ryza series last year as well, so there is that. The studio generally releases one game a year, normally they are Atelier games, but they have made a few Fairy Tail and Blue Reflection games. I found some general roles for games including works for Gust, so they likely have something coming in 2026, the only question is will it be another Atelier game, or something else?
Kou Shibusawa
Known for: Winning Post, Nioh, Nobunaga’s Ambition | Last game released: Winning Post 10 2025
This group is more focused on the games that are Japan focused, not released only in, but rather the country and things that matter to them. Winning Post has had a few games released outside of Japan, but this horse racing series is now mostly Japan only. The other major series that the studio works on is the Nobunaga’s Ambition series, which has seen a number of releases outside of Japan. The studio is also a development partner on the Nioh series and they have also assisted Nintendo with Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
The studio has already confirmed that Winning Post 10 is getting a 2026 update, strangely enough called Winning Post 10 2026, but that game is Japan only. Nioh 3 is coming this year, but there are no mentions of this group working on the third game. Given their more Japan focused nature, odds of them releasing a game to the west this year are slim, but given their history of working with Nintendo on Fire Emblem, they could be working on the new game. We won’t know that until the credits roll, but for now, their only known game is a Japan only release.
Midas
Known for: Shin Hokuto Musou | Last game released: Shin Hokuto Musou
Midas is the mobile focused studio for Koei Tecmo, but they are also going to be where new titles are thought up. Right now their focus is Japan, their single game released so far is a Fist of the North Star musou, but it might surprise you to learn that it is no more. The games in-app buys went offline last year. They have not announced anything new yet, but as they are mobile focused, odds of them having something in the works is certain, we just won’t know about it until it is announced.
Omega Force
Known for: Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors | Last game released: Warriors: Abyss
Omega Force have been making Warriors games since 1997 and in 2025 they soft rebooted the series with Dynasty Warriors: Origins. But then just a few months later they released Warriors: Abyss. But they did not stop there, as they announced that Dynasty Warriors: Origins was going to come to Switch 2 and Dynasty Warriors 3 would be getting remastered and coming the next year.
That year is this year, with Dynasty Warriors: Origins coming to Switch 2 in just a few weeks. The same day that the game launches there, the other versions will also get the expansion for the game. In March, the remaster of Dynasty Warriors 3 will release, giving players a chance to revisit a game that first released back in 2001. But wait, there’s more! Warriors: Abyss will likely keep getting content, as they got updates across 2025. Now we don’t know how many more updates the game will get before the developers run out of characters to add, but I suspect one or two more. The group will have a lot to talk about in the early part of 2026, beyond that, I don’t think we will hear a lot more as the year progresses.
Ruby Party
Known for: Attack on Titan: Escape from Certain Death, Kin'iro no Corda | Last game released: Buddy Mission Bond
If you have never heard of this group, that is not surprising as they are primarily known for Otome games and visual novel games. Most of their work never leaves Japan or Asia in general, but a few did go global. The studios last known game is Buddy Mission Bond, which gained a lot of attention as it was promoted by Nintendo, but it never left Japan. The studio did also make a game, Touken Ranbu Warriors, which took some of the romancing the studio was known for and mixed it with the Warriors gameplay. Will this group have something new in 2026? I honestly don’t know, a lot of what they do is Japan only, which makes it hard to guess, or makes it easy to ignore for a non-Japanese gamer.
Team Ninja
Known for: Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Nioh | Last game released: Ninja Gaiden 4
2025 was a big year for this group, they kicked off the year by announcing Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a remastered and refined version of Ninja Gaiden 2, but they did not stop there. At the same show they announced Ninja Gaiden 4 was coming, with that game releasing in October that year, but wait, there’s more. The studio also created Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme, but that game was just for the Asian market. Now normally I would say something like, with three games out last year, you won’t hear from them for a while but this is Team Ninja we are talking about, they don’t slow down.
Case in point, they are launching Nioh 3 in just a few weeks, and then just a few weeks later, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is launching. Nioh 3 will have a demo soon, so players there can look forward to enjoying the game before the full release, no word on if Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly will do the same. The team have usually a few titles on the go, so more from them in 2026 is likely, even if its just ports of older games to more platforms, as current Nioh and Rise of Ronin are PlayStation console only. The studio will likely also release DLC for Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme as all other games in the series got DLC in the past.
So there we go, our first run at Koei Tecmo. The group are full of very hard working developers, as evident by the amount of games they ship and 2026 is unlikely to break that trend. But what do you think, are you expecting a lot from them this year?
