| Yuke's Co. Ltd. | |
| Type: | Kabushiki gaisha |
| Industry: | Video games |
| Founder: | Yukinori Taniguchi |
| Hq Location City: | Osaka |
| Hq Location Country: | Japan |
| Products: | WWE 2K series [1] |
| Num Employees: | 188 |
| Num Employees Year: | January 2023[2] |
Yuke's Co. Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka. 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 promotion of the same name, until 2018.
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.[3] The latter title was a best-seller in Japan.[4] Though Activision purchased the rights to publish the game in North America and began localization work,[4] 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 (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, the top professional wrestling promotion in Japan.[5] [6] [7]
In August 2019, then-series publisher 2K Games announced it had moved WWE game development to California-based studio Visual Concepts.[8] 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.[9] On November 10, 2020, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced an upcoming console game developed by Yuke's, led by Def Jam Vendetta and WWF No Mercy director, Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita,[10] ; this game would later go on to become AEW Fight Forever.
These are the list of games that the company developed.[11]
| Year | Title | Publisher(s) | Platform(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Japan Pro-Wrestling: Toukon Retsuden | PlayStation | |||
| SCEI | ||||
| New Japan Pro-Wrestling: Toukon Retsuden 2 | Tomy | |||
| Nintendo 64 | ||||
| Tomy | PlayStation | |||
| Soukaigi | SquareSoft | |||
| Hudson Soft | Nintendo 64 | |||
| Evil Zone | PlayStation | |||
| Last Legion UX | Hudson Soft | Nintendo 64 | ||
| Tomy | Dreamcast | |||
| ASCII Corporation | ||||
| WWF SmackDown! | PlayStation | |||
| WWF Royal Rumble | Arcade, Dreamcast | |||
| PlayStation | ||||
| The Pro Wrestling 2 | D3 Publisher | |||
| WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It | THQ | PlayStation 2 | ||
| Eidos Interactive | ||||
| Edit Racing | D3 Publisher | |||
| WWE WrestleMania X8 | GameCube | |||
| WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth | PlayStation 2 | |||
| WWE WrestleMania XIX | GameCube | |||
| WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain | PlayStation 2 | |||
| Online Pro Wrestling | Yuke's | |||
| WWE Day of Reckoning | THQ | GameCube | ||
| PlayStation 2 | ||||
| WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw | THQ | |||
| Rumble Roses | Konami | |||
| D1 Grand Prix | Yuke's | |||
| WWE Day of Reckoning 2 | THQ | GameCube | ||
| D1 Grand Prix 2005 | Yuke's | PlayStation 2 | ||
| WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 | THQ | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | ||
| Wrestle Kingdom | Yuke's | PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 | ||
| PlayStation Portable | ||||
| Rumble Roses XX | Xbox 360 | |||
| WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 | THQ | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 | ||
| The Dog Island | PlayStation 2, Wii | |||
| Wrestle Kingdom 2 | Yuke's | PlayStation 2 | ||
| Go! Sports Ski | PlayStation 3 | |||
| Neves | Nintendo DS | |||
| WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 | THQ | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| PlayStation 2, Wii | ||||
| Soukou Kihei Votoms | PlayStation 2 | |||
| Double D Dodgeball | Yuke's | Xbox 360 | ||
| Bandai Namco Entertainment | PlayStation 2 | |||
| Neverland Card Battles | PlayStation Portable | |||
| WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 | THQ | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| WWE Legends of WrestleMania | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS | |||
| UFC 2009 Undisputed | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |||
| WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 | Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | |||
| UFC Undisputed 2010 | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 | |||
| WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 | |||
| Real Steel | Yuke's | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| WWE '12 | THQ | PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | ||
| UFC Undisputed 3 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |||
| WWE '13 | PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | |||
| Pacific Rim | Yuke's | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | ||
| WWE 2K14 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |||
| WWE 2K15 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | |||
| WWE 2K16 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | |||
| WWE 2K17 | ||||
| WWE 2K18 | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | |||
| WWE 2K19 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | |||
| D3 Publisher | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 | |||
| Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | ||||
| AEW Fight Forever | Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | |||
| [12] | D3 Publisher | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 | ||
| Double Dragon Revive[13] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |