Electronic Artshas just announced its new collaboration with Koei Tecmo, the creators of theDynasty Warriorsfranchise, with the two companies working together to produce a new AAA-tier monster-hunting title set in a fantasy version of feudal-era Japan. This production is being heralded under the umbrella of EA Originals, a publishing label specializing in smaller-scale titles developed by studios outside of EA’s purview.
While Koei Tecmo is a major company in its own right, its new collaboration withElectronic Artsmeans it can get better funding and support from a global, AAA publisher. EA Originals has previously led to the production and publishing of games such asUnravelandIt Takes Two, which means that this collaboration has some big shoes to fill, considering the label’s previous success stories. The project is set to be officially revealed later this month.
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Over the years, Koei Tecmo has produced a number of well-regarded games from a variety of both original and existing franchises, one of the most notable of which is theZeldaoffshootHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Historically, the studio has specialized inDynasty Warriors-type games, where players take on thousands of weak foes and intermittent bosses on large-scale overworld maps, and much of its developmental expertise could be reasonably applied to a monster-hunting game, too.
In fact, it may be worth pointing out thatKoei Tecmo’sToukiden: Kiwamiticks pretty much all the boxes as its new EA Originals production. Namely, the studio’s 2015 offering and its 2017 sequel are also monster-hunting games set in feudal Japan, so it’s going to be interesting to see if and how much Koei Tecmo might separate this existing franchise from its new EA Originals offering. Those hoping to seeToukiden 3shouldn’t get their hopes up, as this is supposed to be an original, standalone IP instead.
It seems that EA and Koei Tecmo are hoping to take onCapcom’sMonster Hunterfranchisewith this collaboration, though it remains to be seen just how similar or dissimilar the two IPs end up being. Since the game is billed as a “truly AAA” sort of experience, odds are that it’s going to have higher production values than a baselineWarriorsgame from Koei Tecmo, which could help it reach a more substantial audience thanToukiden: Kiwamititles could ever hope to reach.
Of course, fans of the studio’s output will know that Koei Tecmo has been dabbling in full-fledged AAA productions for some time now. Therecent reveal ofWo Long: Fallen Dynasty, for example, shows an all-new Souls-like from Team Ninja that shows impressively high production values. The exact nature and style of the studio’s new monster-hunting game, however, are still a mystery. And with just a single piece of artwork to go on, interested gamers will need to wait a bit longer until the game is properly revealed.
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