Nobunaga’s Ambition series’ player base dominated by users past their 40s and 50s 

In 2023, the Nobunaga’s Ambition series celebrated its 40-year anniversary. The franchise that established Koei Tecmo’s historical simulator genre first appeared in 1983, with the release of the original Nobunaga no Yabō for the PC, and continued to develop through 16 main entries and numerous spin-off titles. The series producer Kenichi Ogasawara recently revealed that the player base of Nobunaga’s Ambition consists predominantly of users past their 40s and 50s, with a recent mobile release making a small push to rejuvenate the franchise. 

Nobunaga’s Ambition is one of Japan’s longest-running ongoing series – with a history preceding even franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Street Fighter. However, as opposed to its peers, Nobunaga’s Ambition seems to have retained an unusually mature audience. In an interview with ITmedia Business, Ogasawara comments, “The user base of Nobunaga’s Ambition is growing older each year, with people past their 40s and 50s being in the majority.”  

He adds that Nobunaga’s Ambition: Shutsujin, a mobile geolocation-based game released in August 2023, made a small push towards revitalizing the audience, “However, the main demographic of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Shutsujin is users aged 35 to 45, bringing the average down by 5 to 10 years. It’s designed so that parents can enjoy it with their children, and our long-term goal is to make games that can be played for years to come, transcending generations.” 

While Ogasawara (who has been involved in the series for 10 years) expresses this desire to deliver Nobunaga’s Ambition to various generations, Keisuke Kikuchi, who developed the app, comments on the pressure he felt to stay true to the franchise’s brand, “I was under pressure not to betray people’s expectations for the latest title coming from a brand that’s been around for 40 years. When developing a product, there are some things you can change, and some things that you shouldn’t.” Kikuchi apparently worked together with Ogasawara to ensure the game’s faithfulness to the IP. 

On the other hand, Ogasawara acknowledges that transferring all of his accumulated know-how to younger developers will be a difficult task, but notes that he himself does not feel pressure in terms of maintaining the brand’s image. Rather, he prioritizes the enjoyment of game making, while thinking of new ways to surprise players.