Koei Tecmo experienced a fantastic 2017 thanks in large part to Nioh, an action game that managed to bridge Team Ninja's signature action style to RPG mechanics seen in games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Just as the company did back in 2014, Koei once again teamed up with Nintendo to launch Fire Emblem Warriors, a game that also married Nintendo's signature RPG series with the classic beat-em-up action of the Warriors franchise. These successes, in particular, have made the company eager to work with other developers as well, especially when it comes to a particular sci-fi franchise.

At a recent event, Koei Tecmo president, Hisashi Koinuma, was asked what the recent success of games like Nioh and Fire Emblem Warriors has meant to the company. Koinuma admitted that it had been a while since a new IP like Nioh had become so successful for the company, but it has made the development team eager to continue creating games that push and challenge them. This includes working with other companies and IPs to fit them to Koei's particular action game style.

When pressed for an example, Koinuma immediately mentioned Star Wars as the IP he'd love to work with. Thanks to the franchise's recent resurgence in popularity due to the last few movies, Koinuma sees an opportunity to pair the Warriors formula with the nearly limitless potential that the Star Wars IP represents. The brand has no shortage of character archetypes that Koei could utilize as hero characters from Jedi and Sith, to non-force wielding characters like bounty hunters, Wookies, smugglers, and more.

Though EA has the Star Wars license, it's likely that fans would like to see what both Omega Force and Koei could produce if given the green light. The studios have proven to be more than capable of evolving the Warriors series to fit other franchises as well. In addition to spin-off titles like Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War and One Piece: Pirate Warriors, the action formula was also applied to a couple of major Nintendo franchises: Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda. Both Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors went on to be big hits for Nintendo even though the former launched on the struggling Wii U. Regardless, Hyrule Warriors managed to sell well and earned a second chance on the Switch thanks to an upcoming remastered version.

Source: GameSpot