Koei Tecmo is having a genuinely impressive financial year. Nioh 3 launched to the series' highest Steam concurrent player count. Pokemon Pokopia, the company's collaboration with Nintendo and Game Freak, gave the publisher a rare seat at one of gaming's biggest tables. And yet, when you look at why the company is forecasting all-time record numbers, the games are only part of the equation.
The numbers that tell the real story
In a notice filed directly with investors on April 20, 2026, Koei Tecmo revised its forecast for the financial year running April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. The headline figures are striking: a 16.1% increase in operating profit, a 50% increase in ordinary profit, and a 53.7% increase in profit attributable to owners of parent compared to the company's previous forecast.
Net sales are actually down slightly from the original plan, by 4.9%. But the company still expects net sales, ordinary profit, and profit attributable to owners of parent to all hit record highs. The investor notice states plainly: "Net sales, ordinary profit, and profit attributable to owners of parent are expected to reach record highs."
Here's the thing: a near-5% drop in the net sales forecast while ordinary profit jumps 50% tells you exactly where the real gains are coming from. The company credits "significant gains in non-operating income and expenses resulting from active market management." Translation: the investment portfolio is doing serious work.
Keiko Erikawa, the investor behind the publisher
This is where Koei Tecmo's story gets genuinely interesting. Co-founder Keiko Erikawa, who launched the company alongside her husband Yoichi Erikawa in the 1970s, has long managed a wide-ranging portfolio of tech stocks personally. In a 2021 interview with Nikkei, she described holdings across AI, cloud computing, and security sectors.
Among Japanese gaming communities, Keiko has earned the nickname "Empress" precisely because of this track record. The company's financial results have become something of a running joke in an admiring way among Japanese gamers, with the investment returns frequently outpacing what its games bring in on a given quarter. The pattern has been consistent enough that the "Empress" moniker stuck.
She did admit one miss in that same 2021 interview: not buying Netflix stock while it was still climbing. But given the scale of the gains the company is reporting now, that's a single regret against a long history of well-timed positions.
Koei Tecmo's financial year runs April 1 to March 31. Full results for the 2025-2026 year are expected to be published shortly after the period closes.
What the games actually contributed
To be fair to the games side of the business, Koei Tecmo's investor notice does acknowledge that "new titles launched in the fourth quarter and other titles exceeding initial plans" contributed to the revised forecast. Nioh 3, developed by Team Ninja, launched simultaneously on PC and consoles, which drove record concurrent player numbers on Steam for the series. That simultaneous PC launch was a meaningful shift for a franchise that previously made players wait.
Pokemon Pokopia, meanwhile, put Koei Tecmo in a co-development role on one of the most commercially reliable franchises in entertainment. That collaboration carries its own weight.
But the net sales dip from the original plan makes clear that neither release fully offset whatever shortfalls existed elsewhere in the portfolio. The games beat internal expectations, and the investments beat everything else.
A publisher playing a different game entirely
What makes Koei Tecmo's position unusual is how deliberately the company has built this dual-track model. Most publishers live and die by their release calendar. A bad year for games means a bad year, full stop. Koei Tecmo has effectively built a financial cushion that operates independently of whether any given title lands.
For players, the practical upside is a publisher that isn't under the same existential pressure as companies entirely dependent on game sales. That kind of stability can mean longer development cycles, more willingness to greenlight niche projects, and less panic-driven decision-making when a game underperforms.
With the full financial results expected soon, it'll be worth watching exactly how the games and investment income break down. For now, Keiko Erikawa's portfolio is pulling its weight right alongside Team Ninja's samurai action. Keep an eye on our latest gaming news as Koei Tecmo's full year results land, and check out our recent reviews if you're deciding whether Nioh 3 belongs in your backlog.
