A lot has been said about Konami recently- the company has been losing favor with gamers for a while now, thanaks to its poor handling of its classic franchises such as Castlevania, Silent Hill, Contra, or all of Hudson’s catalog, and the recent Kojima debacle, coupled with Konami’s statements that it will be treating mobile as its primary platgform going forward, as well as the fact that it listed no console games beyond PES and Metal Gear in its financial forecast, have led many to conclude that the company will simply not be making any console games going forward at all.
However, in an interview with Japanese magazine Nippei, translated by VG247, Konami head Hideki Hayakawa has said that this is not the case, and that the company is still interested in pursuing console games.
“We often hear the term ‘mobile first,’ and I want to specify that Konami’s idea of mobile first is not at all to focus purely on mobile games,” said Hayakawa. “Our aim is to continue to build up a comprehensive portfolio of console, arcade, and card game titles for each IP while also making the best possible use of the mobile devices that accompany our customers in their daily life.”
What this means, then, is that Konami will still be doing console games- just not as much of them as they used to.
Of course, one has to wonder whether there is even a point any more- consider that most of the company’s development talent has gone. However, for those who are fans of Konami’s classic franchises, this news should come as a bit of relief- at least there is still hope.