Koei plans to double size of Singapore dev team

While publisher Koei is seeing consolidation in the coming months – it plans to merge with Tecmo in April – it is also expanding, having announced plans to double the size of its Singapore studio.

The firm will add 60 more staff to the studio in the Asian city state.

These new staff will be added over the next two years, joining the studio’s already strong count of 50 staff.

‭"‬We will not be satisfied until we further strengthen the development capabilities of the Singapore studio,‭ ‬both in quantity and in quality,‭" ‬said Koei co-founder Keiko Erikawa at a press conference announcing the expansion.‭

"Our objective is to groom a pool of talented and passionate developers who want to do Singapore proud and work relentlessly towards creating best-selling titles targeted at the global audience,‭" ‬she added.

Koei recently launched a Japanese online version of its Romance of the Three Kingdoms historical action game, and plans to grow it further before eventually making it available in English.

Erikawa told AsiaOne Network: "We need at least another six months before the English version of RTK can be rolled out here. We wanted to launch the game in Singapore before Japan, but there were broadband-network issues which are now being resolved. But in future, Singapore could be the global hub for the game.

She also said that Koei wants to develop more "multi-platform, network oriented games that can be played on PlayStations 2 and 3, personal computers, Wii, and Xbox 360".