The writing has been on the wall for a few weeks now and it looks like Konami are moving away from console games and concentrating on the mobile market.
“Gaming has spread to a number of platforms, but at the end of the day, the platform that is always closest to us, is mobile,” said Konami CEO Hayakawa to Nikkei, and translated by Neogaf. “Mobile is where the future of gaming lies. With multiplatform games, there’s really no point in dividing the market into categories any more. Mobiles will take on the new role of linking the general public to the gaming world.”
“We will pursue mobile games aggressively,” he added, “our main platform will be mobiles.”
Whilst they have not specifically stated that they are withdrawing from the console market Konami only have one game on their release schedule, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
“We hope that our overseas games such as MGSV and Winning Eleven continue to do well,” said Hayakawa, “but we are always thinking about how to push our franchises onto mobile there too.”
Japanese publishers seem to be having a tough time, Sega recently revealed they made a loss last year and failed to reach sales targets for Aliens: Isolation and the last Sonic game. Square Enix seem to doing well, although a lot of their output including Tomb Raider and Deus Ex now comes from western studios.
With Konami focusing on mobile games it looks like the next time we walk in to Silent Hill it will be on a very small screen.
UPDATE: Added for lols.
I see the future: Silent Hill Touch. Pay $1.99 to clear the fog now, or wait six hours for it to disappear.
— Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) May 14, 2015
UPDATE 2: Just a little FYI, Konami have a really strong presence in the Japanese mobile gaming market, which is why they refer to “the platform that is always closest to us”. This is not something new for the company, more a of a refocus. However, outside Japan their main presence is in the console world, only time will tell if they can replicate their mobile success outside of Japan.
UPDATE 3: It appears that PES will continue.
Hey guys just want to say to please stop worrying, the future of PES is safe ? We have an incredible future ahead, can't wait to show you ?
— Adam Bhatti (@Adam_Bhatti) May 13, 2015
Source: NeoGAF
hazelam
if the Android versions of their mobile games support controllers i could still play on my big screen tv, with my Xperia paired with a DualShock 3, and a HDMI adaptor. ^_^
i’d really like to have a look inside Konami right now to see exactly what’s going on.
Tuffcub
“if the Android versions of their mobile games support controllers i could still play on my big screen tv, with my Xperia paired with a DualShock 3, and a HDMI adaptor. ^_^”
And that’s why we have games consoles… :P
spacedelete
its funny how every publisher thinks moving to mobile only will solve all of their problems and make them millions when mobile market is very crowded and a publisher would be lucky if anyone bought their game. i hope it fails for Konami and they run out of business.
bunimomike
I hope they don’t fail completely and learn quickly enough to treat it as an annex to the core business and nothing else.
They talk about mobile gaming like it’s a cure for cancer. They’re going to learn that’s simply not the truth although I appreciate the Japanese market has shifted away from home consoles by quite some degree.
double-o-dave
“i hope it fails for Konami and they run out of business” – You’ve got to admire such a level-headed & considerate response lol
hazelam
yeah, a proper console is better, but if they’re only supporting mobile, then what other option is there?
DJ Judas
Oh dear. Another Japanese dev unfortunately bites the dust. I still think that there will be high profile casualties from the mobile gaming bubble when/if it pops, and huge names like Konami moving in will only stretch the bubble closer to bursting.
TSBonyman
Yay! I can’t wait for the immersion of playing Silent Hills on a busy commute on a 2.5″ screen with no buttons.
Seriously though, why have they elected to leave their current position and join the bottom of the mobile food chain? smh
TSBonyman
Update 2: Well alrighty then.
Eldur
Man alive… That’s a statement to set the message boards alight!
This is a really unfortunate direction for a great developer / publisher to take and a real blow for the gaming community – Konami have some genuinely excellent IP and the thought of seeing half-arsed, micro-transaction littered iterations of Castlevania, Silent Hill, Metal Gear etc. is more than a little soul-crushing.
Forrest_01
Seems a shame for what was once a pioneering company to go this way (as their back catalogue includes things like Frogger, Yie-Ar Kung Fu & Green Beret as examples), but whilst I think it’s a silly decision, it may be that on their home turf mobile is king.
Personally, I couldn’t give a poop about mobile gaming though – Small pick up & play games with no real story to speak of, god awful touch screen controls & gazing at a tiny screen for long periods of time is not really a good combination for me.
That said, I think the last Konami game I played was Metal Gear Rising, before that Neverdead & before that, El Shaddai – All a year or so apart & didn’t finish a single one of those games. So maybe not so much of a loss for me?
Don’t hope they go bust as a result though. Don’t know why anyone would wish that upon them (or anyone for that matter!).
Eldur
Castlevania is the biggest one for me – the NES original was the first console game I ever owned and I’ve been a massive fan ever since – the DS / 3DS games drew hundreds of hours from me…
I’m such a fan that only yesterday I backed my first Kickstarter – Bloodstained – a spiritual successor from IGA, the producer of Symphony of the Night.
It’s sad to think I might never play another Castlevania game on a Nintendo console… :(
Forrest_01
Yeah, if you take a look though their history, they have a rich & varied past with some really great games (with many things in the list taking me back to my misspent youth!), but I can’t think of a lot of stuff more recently that was anything in particular to write home about (not for me at least anyway, I know a lot of people hold Metal Gear & Pro Evo in high regard).
Starman
I wonder if this is what lead to the fallout with Kojima. As others have said, they have some great ip’s and seem to have just given up without much effort.
JR.
Remember when the general public had Tamagotchis to play with on their commute and weren’t considered gamers…
I hope this works out for Konami but if the future of gaming truly lies on mobile then there is no future for gaming imo.
JoeBoi
MGS iOS edition anyone?
With additional HD graphics and frustrating control scheme that will make you scream!
RudeAwakening
All Konami are interested in are there Pachinko and Pachislot machines and obviously the mobile gaming market! To be honest after MGSV i don’t think i would be bother with any other game from Konami since this whole debacle really showed how the CEO likes to shit on their staff and console gaming fans.
The Lone Steven
Coming soon from the New Maker of Metal Gear Gear X Gear EXTREME VANIA on IOS and Android, Metal Gear Busted. Interact with the breasts of the women of Metal Gear, buy new outfits for them, new bras, new underwear and fire your Nuke into them.
I am ashamed/not ashamed on this joke depending on how it is recieved. As for Konami, they’re are bloody fools! Hello? Konami? You have a massive collection of franchises that are begging to be recontinued. Castlevania instead of God of Vania would easily help you to achieve your cash. Silent Hi…. oh, right, that happened. Ahem..
Contra, Metroid(Although i think that is Nintendo or Capcom), and i’m sure there are other franchises from the 90s that either got put into hiatus or need to come back. Metal Gear will make them a shit ton of cash covered with even more cash with scadily clad women bathing in said cash whilst their CEO plays with Quiet’s breasts in the advert. Because Metal Gear: We’ll make your Snake Solid.