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Sengoku Period

"There was no such thing as a game industry back then." Koei’s founder on how his solo passion project sold 10,000 copies at the dawn of PC gaming in Japan 
AppWizard
March 13, 2025

“There was no such thing as a game industry back then.” Koei’s founder on how his solo passion project sold 10,000 copies at the dawn of PC gaming in Japan 

Yoichi Erikawa, the founder of Koei Tecmo, created his first game, Kawanakajima no Kassen, a historical war simulator set in the Sengoku Period, which was released in 1981 and sold 10,000 copies. The game involved managing various aspects of feudal lord responsibilities and was initially a personal project driven by Erikawa's interest in history and programming. After placing an advertisement in a computer magazine, they received an overwhelming response, leading Erikawa and his wife to manually produce and ship the game. The success of Kawanakajima no Kassen prompted Erikawa to develop more games, including Nobunaga’s Ambition in 1983, which became a franchise with over 40 titles. Kawanakajima no Kassen is currently available on PC via Steam, but only in Japanese.
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