Yuke's Co. Ltd. is a Japanese

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for 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 larg ...

based in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. It was established on 26 February 1993 by Yukinori Taniguchi. The company is best known for developing the '' WWE'' video game series, based on the

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

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'' and the pro wrestling game '' Toukon Retsuden''. 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 ...

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 based on the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(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 Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

, the top

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

2K Games 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that sa ...

announced it had moved ''WWE'' game development to California-based studio Visual Concepts. 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 based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW) announced an upcoming console game developed by Yuke's, led by '' Def Jam Vendetta'' and '' WWF No Mercy'' director, Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita.

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