Publisher Electronic Arts announced a partnership with Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force. Through its EA Originals program, EA will publish the next game from the Japanese publisher and developer, which has been billed as “the next great hunting game.”
EA Originals launched in 2016, with the specific purpose of helping smaller indie developers publish their games. The program has led to the release of games such as Coldwood Interactive’s Unravel franchise, and Joseph Fares’ A Way Out and It Takes Two. This new partnership marks the first time Originals has published a game from a triple-A developer.
Koei Tecmo’s Yosuke Hayashi called it an “honor” to partner with EA, and praised it for allowing Koei Tecmo to “embrace our creative independence.”
“Adding the global resources of EA with our own will help us introduce a new kind of hunting game to a global audience of players and expand our reach into global markets.”
Omega Force is best known for the Dynasty Warriors franchise, along with creating similar games as spinoffs for other franchises. It released Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes this past June. Its parent company, Koei Tecmo, is known for Fatal Frame and Nioh.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with the amazingly talented Omega Force team,” said EA Partners’ general manager Jeff Gamon. “They’ve elevated the hunting genre to the next level, merging their proven talent for combat gameplay with unexpected and innovative mechanics. We can’t wait to introduce their groundbreaking new adventure to the world later this month.”
The phase “next great hunting game” is an interesting one that may tease an intended rival to Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise. This year alone has been a boon for Capcom’s franchise: 2021’s Monster Hunter Stories 2 contributed to an overall profitable year. Additionally, this summer’s Sunbreak expansion for Monster Hunter Rise shipped 2 million copies within a week of release.