Tecmo

Tecmo Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game company founded in Osaka in the 1960s under the name Tehkan. It adopted the Tecmo brand in 1986 and grew into a major publisher and developer of arcade and console games. The company became known for a range of action and sports titles, including Rygar (1986), Ninja Gaiden (1988), and Tecmo Bowl (1991). Its development studios, notably Team Ninja founded in 1995, produced popular franchises such as Dead or Alive and continued to contribute to the Ninja Gaiden series, reinforcing Tecmo’s prominence in action games. Tecmo also published titles across other genres, including the survival horror series Fatal Frame/Project Zero beginning in the early 2000s.

In 2009, Tecmo merged with Koei to form Koei Tecmo Holdings, a merger that created a larger publisher and developer with a global footprint. The combined company continued to publish and develop a broad portfolio of games, integrating Tecmo’s legacy franchises with Koei’s long-running series such as Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga’s Ambition. The consolidated entity subsequently operated under the Koei Tecmo Games name, maintaining an international presence through multiple studios and distribution channels.

Tecmo’s legacy lies in its early arcade and console successes and its ongoing influence in the action and sports game genres. Through the Koei Tecmo era, many of Tecmo’s franchises continued to evolve alongside Koei’s properties, contributing to a diverse catalog of titles across platforms and generations.