14 DAY TRIAL // Japanese developers Tecmo and Koei announced in September that they would begin the merging process between their two companies. Tecmo, the firm behind massive hits like Dead or Alive 4 or Ninja Gaiden, had been searching for a partner for quite some time, but declined, at the time, the offer from Square Enix for a takeover. Then, it announced the company was only open to merger offers, takeovers being out of the question. This sparked the interest of Koei, another Japanese firm, with titles such as Dynasty Warriors under its belt, which made an offer for Tecmo.
In a recent interview with Edge, Kenji Matsubara, president of Koei, explained how the decision to merge with Tecmo was made. He went on to highlight that the two companies had had close bonds before any offer was proposed and that the seniors were actually close friends.
“Koei initiated talks between our two companies,” Matsubara stated. “I heard that Tecmo had declined an offer from Square Enix, and that was when I first thought about the possibility of Koei making an approach. I called a board meeting for the very next day, September 1, to discuss the viability of a merger with Tecmo; we then decided to contact Tecmo, which we did on the same day, and discussions between us ensued; three days later, we were able to make an announcement”.
Then, he underscored the fact that the merger is still in the polishing up stage, as many details have to be taken care of before the two companies become one single entity. “We’re about to start looking at how we can best combine our companies’ skills and properties. But I know that both Koei and Tecmo’s software engineers are already excited about the prospect of merging and are talking among themselves about what kinds of game they might be able to produce together in future.”
Even if the companies have very different design philosophies, the merger will still be completed although this means that some changes must be made. “Tecmo doesn’t want to merge just for the sake of merging - rather, we both realize that we need to change if we are to produce interesting, successful games in the future.”