One of the big surprises of last year was Wii U exclusive Hyrule Warriors. What had initially seemed to be a cheap, Zelda themed Dynasty Warriors knock off turned out to be a genuinely compelling, and amazingly fun action game. Hyrule Warriors went on to be very well received, and proceeded to sell a million copies worldwide as well, adding a desperately needed heavy hitter to the Wii U’s lineup.
According to Tecmo Koei, the custodians of the Warriors franchise, its effects were even more far reaching than that, however. According to them, the game may have been responsible for revitalizing the brand.
“Over the years we’ve seen a sales decline. The Dynasty Warriors series is targeted towards the core fans. But we’ve had a few collaborations recently that have given the franchise a second wind because they’ve brought in new fans that hadn’t given Dynasty Warriors a chance. So Hyrule Warriors gave the series some freshness,” said Koei Tecmo producer Akihiro Suzuki.
He didn’t stop there either- according to him, it is very important to now manage the franchise’s newfound popularity and fans carefully. “Now our task is to keep the new players happy now that they’ve had a chance to play. But overall with the franchise, we need to keep it fresh, both the Dynasty Warriors and the Samurai Warriors brands.”
Of course, since then, Japan alone has seen the release of at least three Dynasty Warriors (or Dynasty Warriors-like) titles, so I’m not sure just how well the lesson was learned, really.
