Yuke's Co. Ltd. is a Japanese

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

based in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. It was established on February 26, 1993 by

Yukinori Taniguchi is a Japanese businessperson and auto racing driver. He founded Yuke's, a video game developer company, in Sakai, Osaka in 1993. Early career As a child, Taniguchi became an enthusiastic arcade gamer, spending much time on early arcade games such ...

. The company is best known for developing the ''

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

'' video game series, based on the

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

promotion of the same name, until 2018.

History

Founded in 1993, Yuke's was named after founder Yukinori Taniguchi's high school nickname. The first two games that the company developed were the platform game ''

Hermie Hopperhead is a platform video game developed by Yuke's and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan in September 1995. Gameplay The player can collect stars, which act as hit points throughout the level. ...

'' and the

pro wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

game ''

Toukon Retsuden ''Power Move Pro Wrestling'' (NJPW 闘魂列伝 "Toukon Retsuden" or "Fighting Spirit Legend" in Japan) is a video game developed by Yuke's Co., Ltd. and published by Tomy for the PlayStation. Gameplay ''Power Move Pro Wrestling'' is a professi ...

''. The latter title was a best-seller in Japan. Though

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

purchased the rights to publish the game in North America and began localization work, only the first game was localized, becoming ''Power Move Pro Wrestling'' with a different roster of wrestlers. Beginning in 2000, Yuke's began to develop wrestling games for

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

based on the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF; now WWE). They were recommended to THQ by Aki, who had developed their own line of wrestling games. From 2005 to 2012, Yuke's owned 54% of

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

, the top

promotion in Japan. In August 2019, then-series publisher

2K Games 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several developme ...

announced it had moved ''WWE'' game development to California-based studio

Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing Sports video game, sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and ' ...

. Earlier that year, Yuke's had revealed its frustration over what it had been able to achieve with recent ''WWE 2K'' games and suggested that its relationship with publisher 2K Sports was partly responsible. Producer Hiromi Furuta revealed that Yuke's had established a new development team tasked with creating a rival wrestling IP, with the intention of reinvigorating its staff. On November 10, 2020,

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) announced an upcoming console game developed by Yuke's, led by ''

Def Jam Vendetta ''Def Jam Vendetta'' is a 3D professional wrestling fighting video game developed by AKI Corporation and EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It was released for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in April 20 ...

'' and '' WWF No Mercy'' director, Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita,; this game would later go on to become ''

AEW Fight Forever ''AEW Fight Forever'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ Nordic. It is the debut title on home consoles and personal computers based on American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling ( ...

''.

Games developed

These are the list of games that the company developed.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.yukes.co.jp/en/ Video game companies established in 1993 Video game companies of Japan New Japan Pro-Wrestling Video game development companies Japanese companies established in 1993 Companies based in Osaka Prefecture