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Koei Tecmo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt is rare that a video game series becomes so popular it inspires copycats – but it is rarer still that it’s so unique it kicks off its own genre.<\/p>\n But that’s what happened with Dynasty Warriors, a series which pioneered the so-called “1 vs 1,000” gameplay, in which the player defeats thousands of enemies in each level.<\/p>\n Throughout years of development – the series has been going since 1997 on the original PlayStation – hardware limitations meant at its best only a few hundred enemies could appear on-screen at any one time.<\/p>\n But all that is now changing, with the power of modern consoles enabling as many as 10,000 opponents on-screen at once.<\/p>\n In other words, the “1 vs 1,000” moniker is finally coming true.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And with that new power comes a new game – after seven years in the wilderness, publisher Koei Tecmo is back with Dynasty Warriors: Origins.<\/p>\n Throughout this period the series has faced a problem – despite selling 21 million copies throughout its history – Dynasty Warriors has always sold significantly better in Japan than in the West.<\/p>\n “It’s something that we’ve been trying to get a lot of people overseas to play,” the head of developer Omega Force, Tomohiko Sho, told the BBC.<\/p>\n But times may be changing, as the release of Dynasty Warriors: Origins in January 2025 has seen encouraging sales.<\/p>\n In the UK, it broke the top 10 of the retail sales charts, while online it was the top-selling game on PC retailer Steam – with just under 70,000 people playing the game at the same time on launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There have been nine numbered entries in the series since it began in 1997, culminating in 2018’s Dynasty Warriors 9 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.<\/p>\n But advances in hardware mean Mr Sho believes now is the time for a sequel.<\/p>\n Though he did not call it a reboot, the team has ditched the numbered titles and simply called the game Dynasty Warriors: Origins – perhaps signalling that the studio believes this is a turning point for the franchise.<\/p>\n It released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S and PC in January 2025, becoming the first mainline entry in the series in seven years.<\/p>\n Mr Sho told the BBC the team had been working on a sequel – which would have been called Dynasty Warriors 10 – but he felt it was simply too similar to previous games, which fans were “starting to get a bit bored of”.<\/p>\n Instead, the long-awaited game was scrapped in order to take advantage of the new hardware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The reason Dynasty Warriors: Origins seeks to break away from what came before is simple, Mr Sho said – it was a result of fan reaction to the last mainline game released in the series, 2018’s Dynasty Warriors 9.<\/p>\n “Either you really liked it, or you didn’t,” he said.<\/p>\n The unreleased sequel was too similar to what came before, he said, but by the time development was in full swing, a change in the games industry ultimately halted production.<\/p>\n Within two days of each other in November 2020, Sony released the PlayStation 5 and Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X – consoles so powerful Mr Sho ceased development to focus on the new hardware.<\/p>\n “The current technology allows us to have many troops and army officers on the screen,” he said.<\/p>\n “This is something I’ve been wanting to do since Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3.”<\/p>\n Those two games, which released on PlayStation 2 back in 2000 and 2001, could at most manage twenty or thirty enemies on-screen at once.<\/p>\n The new hardware can manage a lot more – with PlayStation 5 Pro owners seeing an even bigger leap in performance.<\/p>\n “We’re able to have many troops on-screen – not just thousands, but tens of thousands,” Mr Sho said.<\/p>\n “With the current generation of consoles, we’re able to do that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But all that power comes with a cost – no multiplayer, which has been a staple of the series since its PlayStation 2 days.<\/p>\n “I am very aware that it is seen as an iconic part of the series,” he said.<\/p>\n He felt multiplayer would result in a “performance loss”, meaning fewer enemies on screen, so he decided against including it.<\/p>\n But he said that may change if the game were given a sequel. <\/p>\n “If everyone really enjoys the game, then for the next game in the series, we will definitely have multiplayer,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the interim years between the release of Dynasty Warriors 9 and Dynasty Warriors: Origins, the team has focussed on other things – namely spin-offs.<\/p>\n These are versions of the game, within the 1 vs 1,000 genre, outside of the main series that typically feature different characters – much like how the film franchise Puss in Boots was a spin-off of Shrek.<\/p>\n The company has found success in this area with games featuring characters from series such as Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda and Sega’s Persona 5.<\/p>\n Mr Sho said Dynasty Warriors: Origins was a shift in direction as it focused on performance – while spin-offs were about being true to the franchises involved.<\/p>\n “When the teams were approaching development, they weren’t thinking about the hardware,” he said.<\/p>\n “But more, with Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors being on the Switch, how would we be able to do that best as a Warriors game?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He said Dynasty Warriors’ future was about “getting the most” out of current consoles – perhaps with even more enemies on screen.<\/p>\n Though he laughed off the suggestion that perhaps the studio should consider collaborating on the ultimate “spin-off” – a Sonic the Hedgehog game.<\/p>\n “I also actually like Sonic, just to let you know,” he said.<\/p>\n And Mr Sho said if he could make any Dynasty Warriors spin-off, there are two series he’s huge fans of – Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.<\/p>\n “If there is a chance, I’d definitely love to take on the challenge,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Koei Tecmo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nDW10 cancelled<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Koei](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/73be\/live\/825a8c90-def9-11ef-98f2-fb6004d12416.jpg.webp\")
Koei Tecmo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSpin-offs and future<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Nintendo\/Koei Tecmo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n