Koei, the makers of Nobunaba's Ambition and Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) announced today a major management re-shuffle. On March 31st, current president and chief operating officer Kiyoshi Komatsu will retire from both positions. The 51-year old native of Kanagawa prefecture has served as president since 2001. Current chairman and CEO Masaru Iyori will succeed Komatsu on an interim basis until the general meeting of shareholders in June. Afterwards, Kenji Matsubara, the current head of Koei's online gaming business, is set to become the company's new president and chief operating officer. Iyori will then again assume his current dual role as chairman and CEO.

The company believes Matsubara can lead Koei into an era of growth as an entertainment content provider in a new industry landscape shaped by the arrival of next-generation hardware, continued popularity of handheld devices, ever more powerful cellphones, and broadband online services. Apparently, Matsubara's background in hardware and software development as well as his achievements as the head of Koei's online gaming and mobile contents businesses made him the top choice to lead Koei.