Omega Force

(stylised as ''ω-Force'') is a Japanese video game developer and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1996 by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara, and is best known for the ''Dynasty Warriors'' video games.

History

Omega Force was founded in 1996 as the fourth Business Division of Koei, with the intention of widening the appeal of Koei's portfolio outside of their strategy and simulation games, such as ''Romance of Three Kingdoms'' and '' Nobunaga's Ambition''.

The studio was originally going to be named after the letter ''Z'', however this idea never came to fruition, as the letter ''Z'' can have different meanings outside of Japanese culture. Wanting to keep the last letter of the alphabet, they settled for ''Omega'' from the Greek alphabet. However, because of copyright concerns with the clock manufacturing company Omega SA, ''Force'' was added – a Japanese homophone for "fourth" – representing that they are the fourth business division.

''WinBack'', released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, pioneered the cover-based third-person shooter, inspiring games such as '' Kill Switch'', ''Gears of War'', and '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty''. It also featured an early rendition of the laser sight mechanic, which would later be seen in games such as '' Resident Evil 4''. The cover system has since become a staple of the third-person shooter genre.

In 2018 Omega Force released the next entry in their key franchise ''Dynasty Warriors'', dubbed '' Dynasty Warriors 9'', moving the franchise from its arena-based combat to an open-world. Producers Masaki Furusawa and Akihiro Suzuki planned to overhaul the franchise's often criticized combat system.

Games

''Dynasty Warriors''

''Dynasty Warriors'', known in Japan as , is the first and the largest ''Warriors'' sub-series. In Japanese, all games after ''Dynasty Warriors 2'' carry the title, but English localizations continue to use ''Dynasty Warriors'', putting all international releases a number ahead of their Japanese counterparts.

Numbered games

Non-numbered games

''Samurai Warriors''

''Samurai Warriors'', known as is the series based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history.

''Warriors Orochi''

''Warriors Orochi'', known as in Japan, is a series developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of ''Dynasty Warriors'' and ''Samurai Warriors''.

''Dynasty Warriors: Gundam''

''Dynasty Warriors: Gundam'', originally released in Japan as , is a series which based on the '' Gundam'' anime series. Games were developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Games.

''Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage''

''Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage'', released in Japan as , is a series developed by Omega Force and published by Tecmo Koei. It is based on the manga franchise ''Fist of the North Star'' by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara.

''One Piece: Pirate Warriors''

''One Piece: Pirate Warriors'', also known in Japan as , is a series developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is based on the ''One Piece'' manga and anime franchise by Eiichiro Oda.

''Hyrule Warriors''

''Hyrule Warriors'' also known in Japan as is a series based on ''The Legend of Zelda'', developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and by Nintendo in overseas.

''Fire Emblem Warriors''

''Fire Emblem Warriors'' also known in Japan as is a series based on the '' Fire Emblem'' series, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and by Nintendo overseas.

One-off ''Warriors'' games

Other

Release timeline

References

External links

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Japanese companies established in 1996
Koei Tecmo
Video game companies of Japan
Video game development companies
Video game companies established in 1996