Omega Force
Omega Force (Japanese: オメガフォース) (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[2][3] and is best known for the Dynasty Warriors video games.
Native name | オメガフォース |
---|---|
Type | Division |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 1996 |
Headquarters | , Japan |
Key people | Akihiro Suzuki Kenichi Ogasawara Hisashi Koinuma Hideo Suzuki (Manager)[1] |
Products | Dynasty Warriors series Samurai Warriors series One Piece: Pirate Warriors series |
Parent | Koei (1996–2010) Koei Tecmo (2010–present) |
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.[4][5]
Omega Force is currently developing 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.[6] Producers Masaki Furusawa and Akihiro Suzuki also plan to overhaul the franchise's often criticized combat system.[6][7]
Games
Dynasty Warriors
Dynasty Warriors, known as Sangokumusou (三國無双, Sangokumusō, lit. "Three Kingdoms Unrivalled"), is the first and the largest sub-series of Warriors series. While the second and follow games are named as Shin · Sangokumusou (真・三國無双, Shin · Sangokumusō, lit. "True · Three Kingdom Unrivalled"), English localization remain naming Dynasty Warriors, made all English games are a number ahead of their Japanese counterparts.
Numbered games
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Dynasty Warriors | February 28, 1997[8] | June 30, 1997 | December, 1997 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 2 | August 3, 2000[9] | October 26, 2000[9] | November 24, 2000[9] |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 3 | September 20, 2001[11] | November 26, 2001[12] | March 22, 2002[12] |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 4 | February 27, 2003[11] | March 25, 2003[13] | June 27, 2003 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 5 | February 24, 2005 | March 29, 2005 | June 24, 2005 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 6 | November 11, 2007[14] | February 19, 2008[15] | March 7, 2008[16] |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 7 | March 10, 2011 | March 29, 2011 | March 31, 2011 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 8 | February 28, 2013[19] | July 16, 2013[20] | July 19, 2013[20] |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors 9 | February 8, 2018[21] | February 13, 2018[22] | February 13, 2018[23] |
Notes:
|
Non-numbered games
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Dynasty Warriors | December 16, 2004 | March 16, 2005 | September 1, 2005 |
Notes:
| |||
Shin · Sangokumusō BB | December 16, 2004 | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors Advance | March 24, 2005 | August 29, 2005 | December 2, 2005 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors Online | Spring 2006 | November 10, 2010 | Not available |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 | March 23, 2006 | October 24, 2006 | November 17, 2006 |
Notes:
| |||
Jan · Sangokumusō | March 23, 2006 | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle | April 5, 2007 | July 24, 2007 | August 31, 2007 |
Notes:
| |||
Mobile Shin · Sangokumusō | January 18, 2008 | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce | February 26, 2009 | April 28, 2009 | May 1, 2009 |
Notes:
| |||
Shin · Sangokumusō Multi Raid 2 | March 11, 2010 | ||
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors Next | December 17, 2011 | February 22, 2012[25] | February 22, 2012[26] |
Notes:
| |||
Shin · Sangokumusō Vs | April 26, 2012 | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
|
Samurai Warriors
Samurai Warriors, known as Sengokumusou (戦国無双, Sengoku Musō, lit. "Unrivaled Warring States") is the series based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Samurai Warriors | February 11, 2004 | May 6, 2004 | June 25, 2004 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors 2 | February 24, 2006 | September 19, 2006 | September 22, 2006 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors: Katana | September 20, 2007 | January 15, 2008 | February 22, 2008 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors 3 | December 3, 2009 | September 28, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles | February 26, 2011 | March 27, 2011 | March 25, 2011 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors 4 | March 20, 2014 | October 21, 2014 | October 24, 2014 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles 3 | December 4, 2014 | June 30, 2015 | June 24, 2015 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors 4-II | February 11, 2015 | September 29, 2015 | October 2, 2015 |
Notes:
| |||
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada | November 23, 2016 | May 23, 2017 | May 26, 2017 |
Notes:
|
Warriors Orochi
Warriors Orochi, known as Musou Orochi (無双OROCHI, Musō Orochi) in Japan, is a series developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Warriors Orochi | March 21, 2007 | September 18, 2007 | September 21, 2007 |
Notes:
| |||
Warriors Orochi 2 | April 3, 2008 | September 23, 2008 | September 19, 2008 |
Notes:
| |||
Musou Orochi Z | March 12, 2009 | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
| |||
Warriors Orochi 3 | December 22, 2011 | March 20, 2012 | April 6, 2012 |
Notes:
| |||
Warriors Orochi 4 | September 27, 2018 | October 16, 2018 | October 19, 2018 |
Notes:
|
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, originally released in Japan as Gundammusou (ガンダム無双, Gandamu Musō), is a series which based on the Gundam anime series. Games were developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Games.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam | March 1, 2007 | August 28, 2007 | November 9, 2007 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 | December 18, 2008 | April 22, 2009 | April 24, 2009 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 | December 16, 2010 | June 28, 2011 | July 1, 2011 |
Notes:
| |||
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn | December 19, 2013 | July 1, 2014 | June 27, 2014 |
Notes:
|
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, released in Japan as Hokutomusou (北斗無双, Hokuto Musō), 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.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage | March 25, 2010 | November 2, 2010 | November 5, 2010 |
Notes:
| |||
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 | December 20, 2012 | February 5, 2013 | February 8, 2013 |
Notes:
|
One Piece: Pirate Warriors
One Piece: Pirate Warriors, also known in Japan as One Piece: Kaizoku Musou (ワンピース 海賊無双, Wan Pīsu Kaizoku Musou), is a series developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is based on the One Piece manga and anime franchise by Eiichiro Oda.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
One Piece: Pirate Warriors | March 1, 2012 | September 21, 2012 | September 25, 2012 |
Notes:
| |||
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 | March 20, 2013 | August 30, 2013 | September 3, 2013 |
Notes:
| |||
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 | March 26, 2015 | August 25, 2015 | August 28, 2015 |
Notes:
| |||
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 | March 27, 2020 | March 27, 2020 | March 27, 2020 |
Notes:
|
Hyrule Warriors
Hyrule Warriors also known in Japan as Zelda Musou (ゼルダ無双, Zeruda Musō) is a series based on The Legend of Zelda, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and by Nintendo worldwide.
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Hyrule Warriors | August 14, 2014 | September 26, 2014 | September 19, 2014 |
Notes:
| |||
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity | November 20, 2020 | November 20, 2020 | November 20, 2020 |
Notes:
|
Independent games
Title | Original release date | ||
---|---|---|---|
Japan |
North America |
PAL region | |
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend | October 1, 2015 | February 9, 2016 | February 9, 2016 |
Notes:
| |||
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk | October 27, 2016 | February 21, 2017 | February 24, 2017 |
Notes:
| |||
Warriors All-Stars | March 30, 2017 | August 29, 2017 | September 1, 2017 |
Notes:
| |||
Fire Emblem Warriors | September 28, 2017 | October 20, 2017 | October 20, 2017 |
Notes:
| |||
Persona 5 Strikers | February 20, 2020 | February 23, 2021 | February 23, 2021 |
Notes:
|
Other
Release timeline
Year | Title | Initial release |
---|---|---|
1997 | Dynasty Warriors | February 28, 1997 |
1998 | Enigma | April 2, 1998 |
Destrega | September 23, 1998 | |
1999 | WinBack | September 23, 1999 |
2000 | Dynasty Warriors 2 | August 3, 2000 |
2001 | Dynasty Warriors 3 | September 20, 2001 |
2003 | Dynasty Warriors 4 | February 27, 2003 |
2004 | Samurai Warriors | February 11, 2004 |
Dynasty Warriors | December 16, 2004 | |
Shin · Sangokumusō BB | December 16, 2004 | |
2005 | Dynasty Warriors 5 | February 24, 2005 |
Dynasty Warriors Advance | March 24, 2005 | |
2006 | Samurai Warriors 2 | February 24, 2006 |
Dynasty Warriors Online | 2006 | |
Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 | March 23, 2006 | |
Jan · Sangokumusō | March 23, 2006 | |
2007 | Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle | April 5, 2007 |
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam | March 1, 2007 | |
Warriors Orochi | March 21, 2007 | |
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War | August 30, 2007 | |
Samurai Warriors: Katana | September 20, 2007 | |
Dynasty Warriors 6 | November 11, 2007 | |
2008 | Mobile Shin · Sangokumusō | January 18, 2008 |
Warriors Orochi 2 | April 3, 2008 | |
Saihai no Yukue | October 23, 2008 | |
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 | December 18, 2008 | |
2009 | Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce | February 26, 2009 |
Musou Orochi Z | March 12, 2009 | |
Samurai Warriors 3 | December 3, 2009 | |
2010 | Shin · Sangokumusō Multi Raid 2 | March 11, 2010 |
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage | March 25, 2010 | |
Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll | November 25, 2010 | |
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 | December 16, 2010 | |
2011 | Samurai Warriors: Chronicles | February 26, 2011 |
Dynasty Warriors 7 | March 10, 2011 | |
Dynasty Warriors Next | December 17, 2011 | |
Warriors Orochi 3 | December 22, 2011 | |
2012 | One Piece: Pirate Warriors | March 1, 2012 |
Shin · Sangokumusō Vs | April 26, 2012 | |
Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd | September 13, 2012 | |
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 | December 20, 2012 | |
2013 | Dynasty Warriors 8 | February 28, 2013 |
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 | March 20, 2013 | |
Toukiden: The Age of Demons | June 27, 2013 | |
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn | December 19, 2013 | |
2014 | Samurai Warriors 4 | March 20, 2014 |
Sengoku Musou Shoot | April 22, 2014 | |
Shin Sangoku Musou Blast | July 31, 2014 | |
Hyrule Warriors | August 14, 2014 | |
Quiz Battle Toukiden | August 18, 2014 | |
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles 3 | December 4, 2014 | |
2015 | Samurai Warriors 4-II | February 11, 2015 |
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below | February 26, 2015 | |
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 | March 26, 2015 | |
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend | October 1, 2015 | |
2016 | Attack on Titan | February 18, 2016 |
Dragon Quest Heroes II | May 27, 2016 | |
Toukiden 2 | July 28, 2016 | |
Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers | August 3, 2016 | |
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada | November 23, 2016 | |
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk | October 27, 2016 | |
2017 | Warriors All-Stars | March 30, 2017 |
Fire Emblem Warriors | September 28, 2017 | |
2018 | Dynasty Warriors 9 | February 8, 2018 |
Attack on Titan 2 | March 15, 2018 | |
Warriors Orochi 4 | September 27, 2018 | |
Dragon Quest Builders 2 | December 20, 2018 | |
2020 | Persona 5 Strikers | February 20, 2020 |
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 | March 26, 2020 | |
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity | November 20, 2020 | |
References
- McWhertor, Michael (2017-09-27). "Attack on Titan 2 is trying to make its giants scarier". Polygon. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- Phillips, Tom (2014-09-24). "How a passion for Zelda is driving Dynasty Warriors to fresh audiences". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- "Nioh 2 Reveal and More Possibly Coming from Koei Tecmo in 2019". PlayStation LifeStyle. 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- "Gaming's most important evolutions". GamesRadar. 2010-10-08. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Gordon, Shawn (October 11, 2009). "Greatest "Retro" Console Games of All Time". Game Informer. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Romano, Sal (17 December 2016). "Dynasty Warriors 9 announced". Gematsu. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Higley, Christian (9 September 2011). "Five Problems With the Dynasty Warriors Formula and How to Fix Them". VentureBeat. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- "『真・三國無双7』完成披露発表会が開催 布袋寅泰ほか豪華ゲストが登場、"HOTEI呂布"など衝撃コラボも発表 - ファミ通.com". ファミ通.com.
- Perry, Doug (23 October 2000). "Dynasty Warriors 2".
- "The Game That Started The Dynasty Warriors Empire Is Now A PS2 Classic". 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "『真・三國無双シリーズコレクション上巻』の発売が決定! - ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com.
- Perry, Doug (28 November 2001). "Dynasty Warriors 3".
- Dunham, Jeremy (21 March 2003). "Dynasty Warriors 4".
- "KOEI official site".
- Article Detail - PlayStation 3 News - QJ.NET Archived November 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Parfitt, Ben (2007-11-20). "Dynasty Warriors 6 announced". www.mcvuk.com. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- "Shin Sangokumusou 5 Special Release Information for PSP". GameFAQs. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- "Dynasty Warriors 7 Hits PC on March 9". Andriasang.com. 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
- PS3F (December 6, 2012). "Dynasty Warriors 8: New Faces Plus Japanese Release Date Announced". PlayStation News International. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
Shin Sangokumusou 7 will storm PS3s in Japan on February 28th. A western release is likely but remains TBA.
- "DYNASTY WARRIORS 8 RELEASE DATE CHANGE". Tecmo Koei Europe. June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
- "真・三國無双8". 真・三國無双8.
- "Dynasty Warriors 9". Dynasty Warriors 9.
- "Dynasty Warriors 9". Dynasty Warriors 9.
- Tanaka, John (July 29, 2009). "Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce Set for Xbox 360". IGN. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
- "Dynasty Warriors Next International Releases". Giant Bomb. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- "Dynasty Warriors Next for PlayStation Vita". Tecmo Koei Europe. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- "Koei Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, Toukiden and Atelier cross over in Musou Stars".
External links
- Koei Tecmo America
- Koei Tecmo Europe
- Koei Tecmo Japan (in Japanese)