Tecmo rejects Square Enix merger offer, opts for Koei instead
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 4th 2008 at 9:30AM }
Tecmo said Koei would offer "a greater chance of boosting corporate value" (our analysis: Koei wouldn't overshadow Tecmo like Square Enix would). The Final Fantasy publisher, which initially offered $206 million for a merger "on friendly terms," said it would try to (infinite un)discover more details on the Koei merger in order to figure out Tecmo's rationale and then decide what to do next. This isn't the last (remnant) we've heard of it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DangerMouse @ Sep 4th 2008 9:38AM
Good to know that we won't have to pay for the next Ninja Gaiden demo.
KiraXD @ Sep 4th 2008 1:47PM
failed flame based off speculation. good try though.
samfish @ Sep 4th 2008 9:42AM
'eh, I'm sure Square will just end up buying Koei in about 5 years or so anyway.
ph15h @ Sep 4th 2008 1:08PM
Why wait?
tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 4th 2008 9:50AM
Oh great. As if Ninja Gaiden wasn't shallow and mindless enough just wait until the Dynasty Warriors influence rubs off on it.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Sep 4th 2008 10:48AM
Oh please. Sure Ninja gaiden was mindless, but it was also damn fun and made you feel like a bad-ass while playing. However, I do agree it's going to suck having a good developer being forced to make DW games.
sinharvest @ Sep 4th 2008 9:53AM
Does this mean no Tifa in my DOA?! :(
Dale @ Sep 4th 2008 10:02AM
Loving the punnery.
juju187 @ Sep 4th 2008 10:05AM
cao cao in speedo's?
ultimateidiot911 @ Sep 4th 2008 10:25AM
Is it just me or is SE becoming like the Japanese EA?
CJLopez @ Sep 4th 2008 11:56AM
Not so likely, at least Square keeps on givings the games we want
EA...... do we keep playing those sports games????
Sotiris @ Sep 5th 2008 9:28AM
Plus, SE purchases (I believe) other companies that make games of genres it does, so what it does, I think, is not trying to broaden their audience, but deliver more quality games and maybe obtain some new IPs. EA makes crappy games for all the genres.
John Z @ Sep 4th 2008 10:55AM
I'm not entirely sure it wasn't that bad of an idea to turn SE down. Tecmo would almost certainly be completely subsumed in time (though at least Taito's remained relatively independent so far), and SE has plenty more options to pick from for developers who cater mostly to the West.
But Tecmo + Koei? Really? I could have possibly seen Tecmo-SE, but Tecmo's recent troubles make it a bitter pill for anyone to swallow, especially the almost-exclusively niche Koei. I'm interested to see if SE makes a second offer (they did say they would drop the matter if they were rebuffed), but I'm more than a little skeptical of the Koei deal.
Now, if this means Koei starts resurrecting some of their SNES-era titles like Aerobiz or Liberty Or Death, I'll be the first to line up; still, I just don't see it happening.
XDragon @ Sep 4th 2008 10:55AM
Tecmo would have more of a presence if they merged with Koei but would be much more successful with S-E.
I personally think Capcom or Konami would be a better fit for them.
Joe @ Sep 4th 2008 11:11AM
Why would Tecmo want to merge with Koei. Koei makes crappy games at least SE gets there games in the eights and upper nines in review scores. Almost every review for a Koei game is in the sixes. To me this makes no sense at all.
Yes they may get to have a bigger say with there games but going this way does not hold well for them in the future. To me planning for the future would have been a lot more importent then the here and now.
Well now I wonder how long it will be before SE buy Koei and gets Tecmo too.
Jonah Falcon @ Sep 4th 2008 11:39AM
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is going to get a big BOOB JOB! Female heroes with gazongas the size of watermelons running around in thongs. Welcome to the Qin dynasty!
Wah-hah-ha! @ Sep 4th 2008 12:15PM
I could see it happening. Tecmo doesn't want the massive loss of independence that would come from a Square Enix buyout (technically a merger, but at such a size disparity between the two, its like a buyout), and Koei's about the right size for Tecmo to stomach
Organic_Shadow @ Sep 4th 2008 12:45PM
Kinda glad about this. Don't want SE spreading themselves even thinner over their multitude of important projects. Even if they left Tecmo alone you know it would have some indirect effects on the timeliness of the FF, KH, and multiplat games they're working on.