Koei lays out ambitious three-year business plan

TOKYO--In the hopes of leading the industry in the increasingly strenuous global competition, Koei has announced a new corporate strategy named "Vision 2006," an ambitious project that will last until March 2007.

To help boost overseas sales, Vision 2006 includes plans to devote more resources to Koei's development studios outside of Japan. In particular, Koei announced that during 2006 it will release an original action game for Europe and an all-new title for Asia in an unannounced genre. In another cash-generating move, Koei will expand its online game services, such as Nobunaga's Ambition Online, and its mobile content businesses outside of Japan and is looking to increase its catalog of games targeted toward younger audiences.

Koei is also looking to get involved in other forms of media, with tentative plans for anime, manga, and other properties based on its games. In addition, the company is planning to license its brands to companies in other industries to increase brand recognition and increase revenue. In Japan, recent examples of licensed products from the game industry include pachinko pinball machines themed after Sonic the Hedgehog, and business card holders shaped as Nintendo’s classic Game & Watch handheld machines.

By the end of the three-year project, Koei hopes to increase its annual sales by 88 percent to 52 billion yen ($466 million) and bring profits up by 70 percent to 12 billion yen (100 million). In Europe and Asia, Koei plans to raise sales by 277 percent to 3.6 billion yen ($32 million), up from 1.1 billion yen ($9.8 million) in FY2004. Business models for the two regions will be different, with Asia’s profits based more on online services than console games.

Meanwhile, sales in Japan and America aren't projected to grow as much as in Europe and Asia, but sales in Japan and America are expected to be higher than in the latter two regions combined. Sales in Japan are anticipated to rise by 61 percent to 34.7 billion yen ($311 million) and sales in America by 153 percent to 10.1 billion yen ($90 million).