Omega Force

Native name	オメガフォース
Company type	Division
Industry	Video games
Founded	1996; 29 years ago (1996)
Founder	Akihiro Suzuki Kenichi Ogasawara
Headquarters	Ashikaga, Tochigi , 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)

Omega Force (Japanese:オメガフォース) (stylised asω-Force) is a Japanesevideo game developer and a division ofKoei Tecmo, founded in 1996 by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara,^[2][3] and is best known for theDynasty Warriors video games.

Omega Force was founded in 1996 as the fourth Business Division ofKoei, with the intention of widening the appeal of Koei's portfolio outside of their strategy and simulation games, such asRomance of Three Kingdoms andNobunaga's Ambition. Kenichi Ogasawara originally joined Koei in hopes of being able to work onNobunaga'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 fromNEC PC-9801 to theSuper Nintendo. Ogasawara, after being promoted to planner, was then tasked by Koei to create a 3D action game utilising the technological capabilities of thePlayStation. This resulted in the development ofDynasty Warriors and the establishment of Omega Force.^[4]

The studio was originally going to be named after the letterZ, however this idea never came to fruition as the letterZ can have different meanings outside ofJapanese culture. Wanting to keep the last letter of the alphabet, they settled forOmega from theGreek alphabet. However, because of copyright concerns with the clock manufacturing companyOmega SA,Force was added – a Japanesehomophone for "fourth" – representing that they are the fourth business division.^[4]

WinBack, released in 1999 for theNintendo 64, pioneered the cover-basedthird-person shooter and inspired games such asKill Switch,Gears of War, andMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It also featured an early rendition of alaser sight mechanic for weapon aiming, which would later be seen in games such asResident Evil 4. The cover system has since become a staple of the third-person shooter genre.^[5][6] WithWinBack, which was originally shown off at the 1999Electronic Entertainment Expo and later at the 1999Nintendo 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 withFamitsu that the next entry in their key franchiseDynasty Warriors, titledDynasty Warriors 9, was in development. He hoped to have a greater impact withDynasty Warriors 9, as he mentioned "the evolution fromDynasty Warriors 7 to8 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 releasedDynasty Warriors 9, moving the franchise from its arena-based combat to anopen-world.^[10]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the third collaboration project between Omega Force andNintendo, released in 2020, became the best-sellingWarriors 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 withElectronic Arts, along with its parent companyKoei Tecmo. Their new game,Wild Hearts, would be published under theirEA Originals label.^[14] The game was officially announced on September 23, 2022.^[15]Wild Hearts' director, Kotaro Hirata, mentioned thatDynasty Warriors has become a pillar franchise for Omega Force, and that withWild Hearts, they wanted another strong pillar franchise for Omega Force, hoping to widen their audience, and create more internationally appealing titles.^[16] EA'sAndrew Wilson mentioned in an investor meeting, that the success ofMonster Hunter led to EA greenlighting the title.^[17]

TheWarriors series, known in Japan as theMusō (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 theDynasty Warriors games, theOne Piece: Pirate Warriors games, theWarriors Orochi games, theSamurai Warriors games, and various spin-offs.

Dynasty Warriors, known in Japan asSangokumusou (三國無双,Sangokumusō, lit. "Three Kingdoms Unrivaled"), is the first and the largestWarriors subseries. In Japanese, all games afterDynasty Warriors 2 carry theShin · Sangokumusou (真・三國無双,Shin · Sangokumusō, lit. "True · Three Kingdom Unrivalled") title, but English localizations continue to useDynasty Warriors, putting all international releases a number ahead of their Japanese counterparts.

Samurai Warriors, known asSengokumusou (戦国無双,Sengoku Musō, lit. "Unrivaled Warring States") is the series based loosely around theSengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history.

Warriors Orochi, known as Musou Orochi (無双OROCHI,Musō Orochi) in Japan, is a series developed byKoei and Omega Force. It is acrossover ofDynasty Warriors andSamurai Warriors.

• Koei Tecmo America
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• Japanese companies established in 1996
• Koei Tecmo
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• Video game companies established in 1996

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