Koei Tecmo

Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., Ltd. (コーエーテクモホールディングス) is a Japanese video game holding company established in 2009 after Koei and Tecmo officially merged. It later bought Gust in 2011. The company's slogan is "Level up your happiness."

History

On September 4, 2008, Koei and Tecmo announced they had been in talks of merging together into one cohesive company. This came about after Square Enix offered to take over Tecmo due to its precarious state at the time. Tecmo decided that Koei would be a better fit for their vision due to the relationship between their founders and the synergy that would come from each company's complementary aspects.

The merge was agreed upon in November of the same year with Koei and Tecmo stocks given a ratio value of 1 and 0.9 respectively in exchange for Koei Tecmo stocks. This deal ensured that Koei shareholders would have a larger stake within the newfound company, though dissent came in the form of Effissimo Capital Management, the second largest shareholder for Tecmo. Effissimo felt there wasn't enough information to judge whether or not the merger plan would feasibly raise shareholder value and even implied selling their own shares if the merger were to take place. In spite of their opposition, things went according to Koei and Tecmo's plan.

March 10 saw the company's development divisions reorganized into different subsidiaries to increase overall productivity. Eventually, Tecmo itself was integrated into Koei as part of the merging process. Another merge with video game company, Gust, was announced to the public on December 7, 2011, resulting in them becoming another development subsidiary for Koei Tecmo.

Today, the company's motto is to provide the "World's No.1 Entertainment" (世界No.1のエンターテインメント・コンテンツ). Their current target audience as of late are the casual fans of the video game market by making their products easy to learn and play. As of May 2013, their budget for developing games has been nearly sliced in half to simultaneously make a profit while still catering to the needs expressed by their Japanese fanbase.

Koei Tecmo's various departments for console titles, online games, and mobile products were later consolidated into its entertainment segment on April 2016. Their current objective is to create new IPs, expand existing ones, and focus more on developing hit titles involving smartphones, virtual reality, and AI technology. At the same time, they hope to pay more attention to environmental, social, and corporate governance while achieving sustainable development goals in the long term to help the company grow.

Brands

Subsidiary Companies

Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd. - Restructured as the company's main core in 2010. Responsible for planning, development, and sales of game software, CDs, printed materials, and other goods.
- Koei Tecmo America Corporation - Established in January 1988 by Koei at North America; located in California, United States. Originally named Tecmo Koei before rebranding in 2014. Used to produce game software under the leadership of Stieg Hedlund, but ended up focusing more on localization, sales, and marketing after his departure.
- Koei Tecmo Shanghai Entertainment Co., Ltd. - Established at Asia; located in Shanghai, China. Responsible for business development, IP licensing, and marketing planning for Chinese customer base.
- Koei Tecmo Tianjin Software Division - Established in August 1988 by Koei at Asia; located in Tianjin, China. Involved with development of game software.
- Koei Tecmo Beijing Software Division - Established in September 1992 by Koei at Asia; located in Beijing, China. Involved with development of game software.
- Koei Tecmo Korea Corporation - Established in January 2000 by Koei at Asia; located in Seoul, South Korea. Originally named Tecmo Koei before rebranding in 2014. Responsible for localization, sales, and marketing of game software. Got shut down as a subsidiary.
- Taiwan Koei Tecmo Co., Ltd. - Established in November 2000 by Koei at Asia; located in Taipei, Taiwan. Responsible for localization, sales, and marketing of game software.
- Koei Tecmo Canada, Inc. - Established in June 2001 by Koei at North America; located in Toronto, Canada. Used to produce game software, but got shut down in March 2013.
- Koei Tecmo Europe Limited - Established in August 2002 by Koei at Europe; located in Hertfordshire, England. Originally named Tecmo Koei before rebranding in 2014. Responsible for localization, sales, and marketing of game software in Europe.
- UAB Koei Tecmo Baltija - Established in October 2003 by Koei at Europe; located in Vilnius, Lithuania. Involved with development of game software. Got shut down as a subsidiary.
- Koei Tecmo Entertainment Singapore Pte. Ltd. - Established in August 2004 by Koei at Asia; located in Singapore. Involved with development of game software.
- Koei Tecmo France SAS - Established in January 2005 by Koei at Europe; located in France. Served as a secondary company for localization, sales, and marketing of game software in Europe. Got liquidated in February 12, 2009 to help with the merger of Koei and Tecmo.
- Koei Tecmo Software Vietnam - Established in September 2009 at Asia; located in Hanoi, Vietnam. Involved with development of game software.
Koei Tecmo Wave Co., Ltd. - Established in January 18, 1993 as Tecmosoft Products. Responsible for manufacturing, selling, leasing, importing, and exporting amusement equipment. Renamed as Tecmo Eight on August 1994 before receiving its current alias. Restructured as the company's main core in 2010.
CWS Brains Co., Ltd. - Formerly known as Z Project. Acquired by Tecmo Wave on August 2004. Responsible for producing sports-oriented products and services. Sold to Livedoor Co., Ltd. in February 14, 2023.
Gust Co., Ltd. - Acquired in 2011. Converted into the Gust Nagano Development Group of Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd. in 2014. Responsible for independently producing titles unique to the brand.
Koei Tecmo Quality Assurance Co., Ltd. - Established in April 28, 2020. Responsible for inspecting the quality of products and services.
Koei Tecmo Music Co., Ltd. - Established in October 1989 by Koei. Responsible for the creation of music used in game sofrware.
Koei Tecmo Ad Co., Ltd. - Established in September 1991 by Koei. Responsible for the creation of advertisements used to market game software.
Koei Net Co., Ltd. - Established in July 3, 1992 as Koei Soft. The subsidiary was renamed in December 1997 after Nippon Dexter Co., Ltd. had been acquired by Koei. Restructured as the company's main core in 2010. Responsible for distribution and sales of PC software, home video games, and peripheral devices.
Koei Tecmo Capital Co., Ltd. - Established in December 1995 by Koei. Responsible for overseeing the company's investments and capitalist ventures.
Koei Liv Co., Ltd. - Serves as the company's foray into real estate management.

Japanese Holidays

March 30 - Nobunaga's Ambition Day, the first sales date of the first title. Registered by Koei Tecmo and certified by the Japan National Day Association. First reported to the public on March 22, 2013.
December 10 - Romance of the Three Kingdoms Day, the first sales date of the first title. Registered by Koei Tecmo and certified by the Japan National Day Association. First reported to the public on December 10, 2014.
December 22 - VR SENSE Day, statement made by marketing to commemorate the VR SENSE

Potential Mascots

One of these five characters may potentially become the mascot for Koei Tecmo's Japanese website. Most of these characters are sponsored by a video game review company, whose logos are spotted underneath each mascot's profile. On the voting website, these mascots are candidates for "mayor of Gamecity" and the voting is part of a pseudo election. Voting is solely available to members of Koei Tecmo's official fanclub.

Kabuto Kaburo - An easygoing and calm business man who prefers to offer serenity and peace to the people.
Nyabraham Linnyahn with Shinobimono - An ambitious kitty who desires to create a city for the people.
Chou Un with Kasumin - Chou Un is a hot blooded youth who desires to make the city withstand a thousand enemies.
KTG-02 Andoh - A reliable android who loves to rectify mistakes and see other people happy.
Koemon with Tec.Momo - Koemon is a fun loving guy who loves to play. Tec.Momo is his sassy and upright secretary.

Popularity

Voting results are based on fans voting from the website and from votes gathered during the company's Ustream broadcast. These percentages were posted on June 23, 2011.

Nyabraham Linnyahn with Shinobimono - 37.1%
KTG-02 Andoh - 22.5%
Chou Un with Kasumin - 20.8%
Kabuto Kaburo - 15.2%
Koemon with Tec.Momo - 4.4%

Final voting results for the mascots were announced on July 5, 2011:

Nyabraham Linnyahn with Shinobimono - 2,418 votes
KTG-02 Andoh - 1,465 votes
Chou Un with Kasumin - 1,343 votes
Kabuto Kaburo - 957 votes
Koemon with Tec.Momo - 288 votes

Nyabraham Linnyahn is currently the Gamecity mascot (mayor).

Since Koei-Tecmo has showed their support for Japanese baseball teams on multiple occasions, an inquisitive fan asked the company to devise their ideal baseball team on Twitter. One of the developers quickly responded with their what-if lineup. Fans who followed the conversation archived it and asked for more team ideas. The company's enthusiasm for a historical baseball team led many to believe that it would someday be materialized into a future IP, though it has been explored before with their previous Real Escape Game.

Locations

Located in Minato Mirai 21, the KT Zepp Yokohama Building was built in 2020 to serve as Koei Tecmo's new main headquarters. This commercial complex comprises of several offices, a hotel, and a live music hall that can accomodate approximately 2,000 people due to a joint plan made in cooperation with Zepp Hall Network. The building itself has a total of 15 floors with Koei Tecmo using the first eight entirely and the upper levels being used as rooms by Yokohama Tokyu REI Hotel.

The building itself was designed with sustainability in mind, utilizing energy-saving fixtures like LED lighting and water-conservative equipment. It also makes use of a district heating and cooling system in which heating is centrally supplied by nearby energy plants. Underfloor ventiliation combined with an energy-efficient air conditioning system allows entire floors to be properly maintained temperature-wise.