Kazuhiro Echigoya

Kazuhiro Echigoya (越後谷 和広, Echigoya Kazuhiro) is a video game producer, director and planner who has been employed by Koei since 1990. He is currently a senior manager of the company and the producer in charge of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series within the Kou Shibusawa brand.

Echigoya liked to play the bass guitar since his schooling years so he originally wanted to compose music for Koei. However, he held an undergraduate degree in science so he was immediately assigned to be a programmer. After three months of stumbling through coding, it became apparent to his supervisors that he wasn't cut out for the job, which became a sort of inside joke with developers. He was transferred to being a planner shortly after. Within the same month of his new position, he needed to create lines for his first project Sangokushi Eiketsuden. It was recommended that he read Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Sangokushi for inspiration; Echigoya considers this act his first real job for the company which helped him to his current position.

During the 2017 Nexon Developer Conference, Echigoya talked about the company's approaches for IP innovation and expansion. He stressed that the success of new IPs or their expansion lies in presenting a unique presentation on nearly every level, using Koei's own IPs as an example. The Dynasty Warriors series is an offshoot of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series and the Samurai Warriors series branched from Dynasty Warriors, but each IP has its own identity to distinguish themselves from one another. He added that distinct collaborations can help promotions and brand recognition.

Works with Koei

 * Sangokushi Eiketsuden - planner
 * Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends - main planner
 * Samurai Warriors, Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends - main planner
 * Dynasty Warriors Online - director, producer
 * Shin Sangoku Musou SLASH - producer
 * Sangokushi Legion - producer