Since Tokyo Game Show 2023 concluded there has been nothing but negativity and rumors pertaining to Dead or Alive & NINJA Gaiden seeing no announcement while taking a backseat to Rise of the Ronin (set to release at the end of next year). Let's break all of this down so the community has some type of idea what to expect in the future. Koei Tecmo's business model has changed drastically since Dead or Alive 6 was released and concluded during COVID-19 and also from them ending support with the game. They've also had the experience of balancing out what big publishers expect of them, and probably being tugged at from both sides when it comes to platform exclusivity.
Right now, Koei Tecmo is building fortifications that will ensure their survival from expensive blunders. Their most recent blunder happened to be Wild Hearts. Koei Tecmo had a lot invested in this game, and it was expensive to make, and the relationship of publishing was within EA and EA isn't impressed with the game and expected it to be a competitor for the immensely successful Monster Hunter franchise. A Game Pass deal was imperative for this idea to come even close to working and it didn't happen. This may have some people asking themselves "would Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty have met the same fate had it not been for the Game Pass deal?"
Koei Tecmo wanted to "give it time" for Wild Hearts to grow, but the poor pattern of updates and obscure comments made by the official Discord and Reddit suggest that the game is on its way to being canned after only 7 months. The Atelier saga has seen three games this year, plus an anime adaptation, and a big reason for that is that the games turn very quick profits for Koei Tecmo as they cost very little to make. After over two decades of releases for this series it is finally starting to see some success, so they are now hoping to depend on it as a gacha title much like Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation that prints more money at a lower cost than creating lots of new games.
They see these gacha games as fortifications for their losses which from a business standpoint makes sense. Not only that, but the diehard fans of DOAXVV are very easy to please and rarely complain about anything. Koei Tecmo sees that as a win just as much as lottery outfits that deposit their paychecks. The relationship between the DOA customer/player and publisher was not good, and with patience and understanding between both parties would be a better sign of things to come than to berate them as we did with the DOA6 hair rental service. Without blaming anyone, the matter wasn't handled well. Perhaps time and kindness will be the best healer in that regard.
Dead or Alive properties outside of DOAXVV have been heavily advertised on their active Twitter account, and this gives people some hope that there will be another title in the franchise. Typically, when a publisher is done with a game, they will no longer go out of their way to pay someone else to advertise it so that is a positive to take home at the end of the day. Koei Tecmo may not have much knowledge on what to do with DOA, but they do realize that the characters are increasingly valuable, and that Ryu Hayabusa is their most famous character by far not just in games but in pop culture as a whole.
If you look at their titles for TGS you will come to find out that many games are also missing from Playstation & Switch and are making more appearances on iOS/Android/Steam so there is less availability, but more games that they would label as fortifications to ensure a turnaround in profit.
There is also the idea of Sony taking a lot of control at Koei Tecmo games as they've spent more money as investors and publishers for KT than most others, but with that being said, the immense success of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty on Game Pass creates a tug-of-war on how they should cooperate with bigger publishers. Sony wants big, blockbuster single player games and this (Nioh, Rise of the Ronin) does not coincide with what a typical DOA player would want.
With a severe lack of games from Koei Tecmo publishing, the quietness of Team NINJA since G-Note and even a lack of updates for DOAXVV -- would it be so hard to believe that Sony is pulling the strings and saying you can't work on anymore projects until Rise of the Ronin is done and meets its deadline for the end of 2024? I think we will get our answer at around that time, and if we get it sooner than that I would consider it a miracle.
Times like these are hard on the community because some are older and wonder if they should just move on with their lives and others are very new to the game and don't know how this DOA release thing works. I am caught up somewhere in the middle. Either way, we are here for you, and we hope that you continue the journey with us. With over two decades of the franchise, it would be crazy to stop now, right? Meanwhile DOA3 players have options:
As always, we will support all past entries to the series to the best of our ability at Free Step Dodge. Everyone has their favorite, and it just so happens that DOA3++ has had its own type of resurgence in the tournament scene. With appearances at Winter Brawl, Brooklyn Arcade and also NEC 2023 later this year as a main roster game this underrated gem is being exposed more than it ever has been before in its 22-year-old existence.
Right now, Koei Tecmo is building fortifications that will ensure their survival from expensive blunders. Their most recent blunder happened to be Wild Hearts. Koei Tecmo had a lot invested in this game, and it was expensive to make, and the relationship of publishing was within EA and EA isn't impressed with the game and expected it to be a competitor for the immensely successful Monster Hunter franchise. A Game Pass deal was imperative for this idea to come even close to working and it didn't happen. This may have some people asking themselves "would Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty have met the same fate had it not been for the Game Pass deal?"
Koei Tecmo wanted to "give it time" for Wild Hearts to grow, but the poor pattern of updates and obscure comments made by the official Discord and Reddit suggest that the game is on its way to being canned after only 7 months. The Atelier saga has seen three games this year, plus an anime adaptation, and a big reason for that is that the games turn very quick profits for Koei Tecmo as they cost very little to make. After over two decades of releases for this series it is finally starting to see some success, so they are now hoping to depend on it as a gacha title much like Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation that prints more money at a lower cost than creating lots of new games.
They see these gacha games as fortifications for their losses which from a business standpoint makes sense. Not only that, but the diehard fans of DOAXVV are very easy to please and rarely complain about anything. Koei Tecmo sees that as a win just as much as lottery outfits that deposit their paychecks. The relationship between the DOA customer/player and publisher was not good, and with patience and understanding between both parties would be a better sign of things to come than to berate them as we did with the DOA6 hair rental service. Without blaming anyone, the matter wasn't handled well. Perhaps time and kindness will be the best healer in that regard.
Dead or Alive properties outside of DOAXVV have been heavily advertised on their active Twitter account, and this gives people some hope that there will be another title in the franchise. Typically, when a publisher is done with a game, they will no longer go out of their way to pay someone else to advertise it so that is a positive to take home at the end of the day. Koei Tecmo may not have much knowledge on what to do with DOA, but they do realize that the characters are increasingly valuable, and that Ryu Hayabusa is their most famous character by far not just in games but in pop culture as a whole.
If you look at their titles for TGS you will come to find out that many games are also missing from Playstation & Switch and are making more appearances on iOS/Android/Steam so there is less availability, but more games that they would label as fortifications to ensure a turnaround in profit.
There is also the idea of Sony taking a lot of control at Koei Tecmo games as they've spent more money as investors and publishers for KT than most others, but with that being said, the immense success of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty on Game Pass creates a tug-of-war on how they should cooperate with bigger publishers. Sony wants big, blockbuster single player games and this (Nioh, Rise of the Ronin) does not coincide with what a typical DOA player would want.
With a severe lack of games from Koei Tecmo publishing, the quietness of Team NINJA since G-Note and even a lack of updates for DOAXVV -- would it be so hard to believe that Sony is pulling the strings and saying you can't work on anymore projects until Rise of the Ronin is done and meets its deadline for the end of 2024? I think we will get our answer at around that time, and if we get it sooner than that I would consider it a miracle.
Times like these are hard on the community because some are older and wonder if they should just move on with their lives and others are very new to the game and don't know how this DOA release thing works. I am caught up somewhere in the middle. Either way, we are here for you, and we hope that you continue the journey with us. With over two decades of the franchise, it would be crazy to stop now, right? Meanwhile DOA3 players have options:
As always, we will support all past entries to the series to the best of our ability at Free Step Dodge. Everyone has their favorite, and it just so happens that DOA3++ has had its own type of resurgence in the tournament scene. With appearances at Winter Brawl, Brooklyn Arcade and also NEC 2023 later this year as a main roster game this underrated gem is being exposed more than it ever has been before in its 22-year-old existence.
Last edited: