We’re talking about the Fox engine, made with the ambition of being the best engine in the world, and coming pretty close to that goal. But things have been quiet for this fine addition to modern gaming in the years since. With Konami choosing Unreal for development on its current projects, what has happened to the Fox Engine?

Was it a bad move for Konami to abandon one of its best performers? Did the Fox Engine really fall out of favor, or were there more practical concerns at play? Join us as we take a look at a story whose ending could have, and perhaps should have, been a lot happier.

Built With Ambition

The Fox Engine’s lifespan is a showcase of how ambitious Konami was in the years after Metal Gear Solid IV. In an effort to make development across platforms faster and more seamless, Kojima and his team began working on it, intending to use it to reduce the studio’s single-platform dependence while also achieving better visual fidelity and performance in the bargain.

The Fox Engine always had its work cut out for it. But its early previews, where Kojima was clever enough to divest it from the then-upcoming MGSV, showed that it was achieving a favorable response, a sort of affirmation of its capabilities. Even the demo of the engine showcased at E3 2011 was noteworthy for its effectiveness at presenting an immersive take on Metal Gear’s jungle environments.

Of course, an engine built with the vision to be the best one in the world was not going to restrict itself to a single title of franchise. The Fox Engine, despite being named after a significant presence in Metal Gear Solid, would first make an appearance in the 2014 iteration of Pro Evo Soccer.

It also came at a time when proprietary engines seemed to be quite popular with studios, with MT Framework and Luminous engines putting up quite a good fight. The Fox engine was Konami’s way of levelling the playing field, a tool that would allow it to compete with the industry’s best, and perhaps even inch ahead of them in the process. It wasn’t just about MGSV. It was about a whole other bunch of projects that would follow it.

As expected, it did perform as it was intended to. It not only ran well on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC with performance at 60fps and excellent visual parity, but it also delivered excellent results on the awfully underpowered PS3 and Xbox 360. It brought almost photorealistic graphics to the table, with gamers even challenged to identify between two images of a staff room at Konami, one of them having been rendered by the engine.

It could also render huge outdoor spaces with aplomb, and bring excellent lighting options to the table in addition to facilitating dynamic weather and day/night systems. Stealth mechanics were also handled quite well, making it a very versatile presence in the gaming industry at the time. It also made things easy for developers, showcasing its utility across the supply chain of a video game’s life. It proved itself quite well, earning its reputation after stellar showings with the PES and Metal Gear franchises.

Heck, there were even plans to make the engine accessible to a wide range of individuals, something that MGS5 modders would have deeply appreciated. But of course, things never really went according to plan, and it’s now time to sail into melancholy waters as the Fox Engine’s descent into obscurity begins here.

The Price of Dreams

The Fox engine was built as the result of a dream to create the world’s best gaming engine. But dreams like that come with a hefty price tag. An engine that performed as well as it did required huge initial investments into R&D, while maintaining the engine and sustaining its utility in an ever-changing landscape of gaming hardware would require constant upkeep, along with the manpower required for the job.

Add in new consoles and the possibility of other studios working with the engine and potentially requiring support on it, and you begin to see just how staggeringly expensive it could be to maintain a proprietary engine and keep it relevant enough to be profitable in modern gaming. However, with Kojima Productions at its side, Konami might have been able to stand by its own creation and perhaps even see it achieve true greatness over the years.

But the studio’s well-documented differences with Kojima would see the director and a lot of his former team at Kojima Productions make an exit from the company. It’s here that the Fox engine hit its first hurdle, as a lot of the staff who had now left the company were the ones with the expertise for its upkeep. In their absence, ensuring it remained viable would have been quite an expensive affair for Konami.

While things weren’t as bad in the short term, as the exit of folks who understand an engine doesn’t necessarily mean it immediately loses ground, the dissolution of the Kojima Productions team was the first domino to fall for the Fox engine. Its role in the immediate aftermath of Kojima’s exit is a showcase of that drop in momentum, as it would go on to power almost seven years of Pro Evolution Soccer titles with little to nothing else on its plate.

While that does not diminish the prestige that comes with being the life force behind a franchise like PES, it does show how the focus of an engine that was once meant to power a multitude of projects has now been narrowed down, signalled for the tech. But shouldn’t the results it managed from that franchise have been a catalyst for its update to work with current-gen machines? It did give PES some excellent lookers over the years, along with facilitating derivative tech like Fluidity, which was a great indicator that it could handle animation-heavy sport titles alongside stealth-action ones. The engine was certainly versatile and would have been a valuable tool in Konami’s arsenal had the studio chosen to stick with it.

Alas, that wasn’t where this story goes. But why would a studio choose to leave something it invested so much into behind? Did the fallout with Kojima Productions leave a bad taste in Konami’s mouth? Or was it perhaps something more banal?

Unreal Numbers

There are two important titles that answer this question, both of which use Unreal instead of Fox to power the experiences they offer. The first one is eFootball 2022, which not only swapped out Fox in favor of Unreal during its development, but was a reboot of the PES franchise. That was always going to be a scary bet, and it’s a significant one because it showcased how the Fox engine had certainly fallen out of favor at this point.

But is that the engine’s fault? It was solid tech that churned out reliable results. So why would Konami make such a big bet on Unreal? That’s easy. It was just easier to build out a new experience on the Unreal engine instead of attempting to usher Fox into the current-gen era. The latter would require hiring new experts to work on ageing internal tech, while the former would likely bring talent already familiar with it to the table.

And yet, Konami’s teams were made to work with new tech and a new live-service model on top of a new animation system. The burden of high expectations and the need to craft for the current generation of consoles drove Konami to switch away from an engine that had delivered consistent, reliable results. The results were a title with sloppy animations, horrendous facial models, and bugs, which resulted in the reboot getting a lot of backlash.

It’s rather ironic that the switch to a “modern” engine brought those problems along. But it was a fall Konami had to take, and the studio has since lived and learned from the experience. The second title that’s important is Konami’s Unreal-powered remake of Snake Eater, an experience that brings a second irony to light.

The franchise that birthed the Fox engine has now moved to Unreal and even managed to be a great experience overall. The visual polish was welcome, but the quality of life changes that Konami implemented ushered the game into a modern avatar that’s going to see it continue to be one of modern gaming’s finest titles and a feather in Kojima and his team’s cap, even as his journey has taken him in another direction.

The Fox engine was the last ember of a once-flourishing relationship, and might have been behind some great next-gen experiences like a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid, more crisp sports titles, and perhaps even a Silent Hill title fully realized with its extensive skill set. It’s a great example of incredible tech simply pushed into obscurity by more cost-effective and convenient options.

The Fox engine didn’t lose to spite or negative emotions stemming from the circumstances of its creator’s departure from Konami. It simply fell victim to entropy, unable to withstand the test of time in an ever-evolving industry. Unfortunately, it’s now collecting dust, and with its use case more or less finished, Konami can make it open source. Perhaps I am dreaming?

But it does live on in its own way, with Kojima Productions moving on, and with Guerrilla Games, the Decima engine is now carrying the torch for what a very talented team of individuals can achieve when they work towards a daring dream. The engine that started it all will remain a fond memory and a testament to true talent.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

No company has garnered as much scrutiny and negative publicity regarding its future in the AAA market as Konami has. Which means that the first question that we would ask Konami, were we to get the chance to, would be if they were still interested in making games for the high end console market. So when we got the chance to talk to Steve Merrett, who works at Voltage PR, the firm handling PR for Konami in the UK, that was the question we sprung on him- are Konami still interested in AAA game development?

“Well, PES 2017 is coming,” Merrett said. “If that’s not enough indication that Konami is still interested in the market, then I don’t know what is,” Merrett told us at E3.

That’s all well and good, of course, but while PES is definitely AAA, that’s not the kind of game most fans have in mind when they discuss Konami’s future. So we decided to get a bit explicit, and ask him the question that’s probably on most of our minds- are Konami going to be working on a new Metal Gear game? Merrett wouldn’t answer that question, but we did bring up the FOX engine- I suppose Konami’s commitment to that engine is, in a sense, proof that they do plan on putting out more AAA games.

“FOX engine is a constantly evolving beast,” Merrett said. “It’s one where it’s been adapted perfectly for PES now. So what it allows us to do is, it’s just giving us ever more accuracy in terms of it handles the animation, and the faces, and stuff like that. It does it all in real time. So it means that we can focus on the animation and the gameplay. Making sure everything is smooth and the FOX engine handles everything else. One of the reasons why PES is so fast is because of that engine.”

I suppose that’s true, and the FOX engine is an exceptionally good one- I just wish it was being used for more than PES every year, I guess.

Former FOX Engine designer Julien Merceron was widely believed to be joining up with the newly reformed Kojima Productions- however, it seems like he will be joining Japanese giant Bandai Namco instead, where he will presumably be helping them with his technical expertise.

“I’m extremely excited to be given an opportunity to make a difference within the amazing Bandai Namco Group, so well-known for its iconic IPs,” Merceron said of the appointment. “I’m looking forward to empower the teams I’ll be working with and accelerate growth, innovation and creativity. The reach of this group goes well beyond games, it is a true Multimedia and Entertainment Group, so I know I will learn a lot too!

“Working with so many experienced people and friends and focusing on a wider range of entertainment forms is the chance of a lifetime! Within Bandai Namco Studios, there is a true opportunity to have a worldwide reach with Original Content.”

No less than Bandai Namco’s CEO Hajime Nakatani chipped in on the appointment as well. “I am very happy to welcome Mr. Merceron as part of Bandai Namco Studios,” he said. “The studio will continue to accelerate its efforts worldwide. In line with the evolution of information-communication technology, innovative services through VR/AR/IoT are being created, and we are facing a chance to create a lifestyle and entertainment that has never been imagined. In such revolutionary times, in order to create the best product for the world, we would like to evolve the studio together with Mr. Merceron.

“Please look forward to the future of Bandai Namco Studios.”

Namco is indeed one of the best places Merceron could have ended up at- the studio’s output is frankly enormous, and they remain one of the few Japanese companies that have managed to transition into the modern era of gaming without issues. That said, their technical infrastructure could certainly use an overhaul, and Merceron will hopefully help them with exactly that.

Let’s hope for a future Tales game with an engine that doesn’t have some inexplicable idiosyncrasies.

Kojima may have left Konami in the most public departure of a creator from a publisher, well, ever, but that doesn’t mean Konami has been deterred from continuing on with making more Metal Gear games. Konami is now hiring for a brand new Metal Gear game. The game is simply referred to as “New Metal Gear” in the listing, but will most likely be titled Metal Gear Solid 6.

The job listings see Konami looking for people with “a wide range of highly-skilled developmental professionals,” with them asking for applicants with “boundless imagination, and the capacity for exciting new ideas.”

Of course, with the extremely great foundation that Kojima left in place with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as well as the thoroughly powerful and flexible FOX Engine, making new Metal Gear games, and even new good Metal Gear games, shouldn’t exactly be difficult. The question here is if these new games will have the personality and flavor that the Kojima directed games in the franchise all did.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, released in September 2013, was the year the series began its most significant shift in visuals yet. It began to use a modified version of Kojima Productions’ FOX Engine and Havok physics. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes would debut roughly six months later and better showcase the engine’s potential on current gen platforms like the Xbox One and PS4. Sure enough, PES 2015 showcased the series’ improvement in terms of better skin shaders, more realistic emotion on display from players on the field, better animations and more believable ball and player collision physics.

We now come to Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 which is available on the PS4, Xbox One and PC along with Xbox 360 and PS3. It seems that this year’s iteration has a lot more to live up to, especially after Kojima Productions’ upped its efforts with the FOX Engine following the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. So what kind of visual improvements can players look forward to in PES 2016?

Head to head comparison between PS4, Xbox One and PC versions of PES 2016. Please select 1080p and 60fps for the best possible video playback quality.

First, it’s important to point out the rather strange resolutions on the Xbox One compared to PS4. While the PS4 runs at 1920×1080 resolution, the Xbox One’s resolution is rendered at 1360×1080. Why the odd choice, especially when FIFA 16 can maintain a full HD native resolution? Maybe the FOX Engine just scales better on the PS4, though even Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain’s resolution was 1600×900 on the Xbox One. Perhaps Konami is just better at optimizing the FOX Engine for PS4 in this particular instance but that’s just our guess.

Still, the decision for a sub-1080p resolution in the Xbox One version is interesting. Many other games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare employed dynamic resolutions. The choice to stick with 1360×1080 feels somewhat better in this case, especially since the engine isn’t switching pixels depending on available GPU resources. It’s also much better than the 720p resolution we saw with PES 2015 last year or in the majority of the Xbox One’s launch titles. Microsoft has surely come a long way with its console’s SDK.

Thankfully, as Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain’s performance exemplified (and that was no small game by any means), Pro Evolution Soccer 2016’s performance across both platforms is rock solid. Performance can be considered similar to FIFA with a locked 60 frames per second and V-Sync employed. There are some frame drops during a match’s opening ceremony or when camera angles are switched but unlike the replays and celebrations in FIFA 16 which run at 30 FPS, PES 2016 runs at 60 FPS.

The PS4 version sports better texture filtering, as noticed on player socks and attire. Overall, character models are excellent and identical across both the PS4 and Xbox One. There’s plenty of depth of field especially in replays which only adds to the sense of adrenaline and certainly helps PES stand on its own. But Konami’s football title stands apart from FIFA 16 with fantastic animations and physics; to some extent, even the character models look better. While the presentation may feel a bit flat compared to FIFA 16, the action on field looks better. There are no jerky animations and player movement doesn’t seem stiff or robotic at all. Players with ball possession look and run realistically though we did note some slight delays when the ball connected with a player’s shoe. In some ways, the latter animation comes across as a more natural reaction to the first. If you’re expecting great looking crowds though, we’ve got some bad news – the crowds in PES 2016 look terrible compared to those in FIFA 16.

Head to head screenshot comparison between PS4 followed by Xbox One version of PES 16.

Head to head screenshot comparison between PS4 followed by PC version of PES 2016.

As noted with analysis on The Phantom Pain, the FOX Engine uses a custom, hardware-based anti-aliasing solution that’s closer to custom FXAA. Since PES 2016 isn’t as demanding as Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, the custom AA works so much better here. Weather effects like rain and day/night matches have been included though fans won’t find much different from last year’s iteration. The FOX Engine’s lighting tech looks stunning during night matches and is once again the star of the show.

Now think about how good PES 2016 looks on PS4 and Xbox One, and compare it to how Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain looked on consoles while translating great to PC. Surely Konami kept the same level of quality in the PC version of PES 2016?

Unfortunately, no. The graphics in PES 2016 on the PC are simply disappointing, coming across as more of an updated port from the previous generation rather than an entity separate from the PS4 and Xbox One.

Texture filtering is vastly inferior to both console versions. Shader quality on character models seems to have dropped significantly. The lighting is flat and the crowds look akin to PS2-level paintings than 3D polygons. What’s worse is that there are only three graphical presets to choose from – low, medium and high – and nothing more. Sure it’s priced the same as previous gen versions but is it really worth it in this case?

Our hardware consisted of an Intel Core i7-5960X with 16 GB of RAM and a Radeon R290 2x GPU. There weren’t any performance issues with PES 2016 per say but it’s just a huge letdown when you consider the tons of different graphical options that The Phantom Pain shipped with.

In the end, it’s easy to recommend the PS4 version of PES 2016 over Xbox One though the improvements seen in the latter just go to show you how scalable the console can be. As such, the overall quality of the Xbox One version is still miles ahead of the PC version. The biggest irony is that the PC version using the exact same engine as Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and yet these are the results. Check out the PC version only if you have no other choice.

Note: GamingBolt’s Bill Smith performed the analysis.

Konami’s worldwide technology director Julien Merceron, who oversees the FOX Engine used in so many of its games like PES 2016 and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, has left the company.

The news was first reported by GameBlog (via NeoGAF) and since then, there have been independent sources that confirmed it to IGN as well. As the original source stated though, Merceron was leaving due to the lack of “ambitious projects” on consoles. Given Konami’s intentions to focus more on mobile efforts and projects which generally don’t require high budgets, it’s understandable.

Merceron joined Konami back in 2013 before the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes and PES 2015, thus beginning the era of FOX Engine in both titles. Prior to this, he spent seven years at Square Enix, with some time spent as global technology director for the company.

With Merceron gone, what does that mean for the future of the FOX Engine? Stay tuned for more information in the coming days.

However, arguably the biggest story of 2015 has been the split between Konami and Metal Gear Solid series creator Hideo Kojima. Despite Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain almost being out (at this time of writing) and garnering multitudes of early Game of the Year nominations, the saga of Kojima’s departure was one of the most surreal yet visceral tales of the year.

"For any Metal Gear Solid fan, that basically means we may never see a Konami game with the legendary director’s stamp of approval, much less with the epic scale or vision that Metal Gear Solid 5 pushes for."

You would think Konami would be smart to keep Kojima on, if only for the fact that he’s been the most consistent visionary at the company for years. Besides effectively putting the company on the console war map with Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation One and revolutionizing his blend of stealth action and cinematic presentation in Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Kojima (along with his studio) was also responsible for the FOX Engine. This currently powers Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer franchise and will likely continue to be used in the years to come.

As if the success of the Metal Gear series as a whole wasn’t enough, Kojima was also headlining the resurrection of Silent Hill. Silent Hills signaled a hotly anticipated collaboration between Kojima and Guillermo del Toro and it could be argued that the short, PS4-exclusive demo P.T. revived interest in the franchise all on its own. Why would Konami ever think about getting rid of him, even with the delays on Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and the bloated budget it incurred or the unusually pathetic workplace culture that the publisher enforces?

Whatever the reasons may be, Konami just won’t be the same without Kojima. For any Metal Gear Solid fan, that basically means we may never see a Konami game with the legendary director’s stamp of approval, much less with the epic scale or vision that Metal Gear Solid 5 pushes for. From a practical point of view, one has to wonder – what is Konami without Kojima?

Pro Evolution Soccer, despite its consistent quality and changes, hasn’t really made a dent on the sports game market like EA’s FIFA series. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, a disappointing sequel to a successful reboot (of sorts), was the last major game to come out of that franchise in a while.

"Pro Evolution Soccer, despite its consistent quality and changes, hasn’t really made a dent on the sports game market like EA’s FIFA series."

Konami has also done a fabulous job of effectively murdering a number of its other franchises including Bomberman (which hasn’t seen any significant releases since Hudson Soft was absorbed in 2012), Suikoden and even Silent Hill (name a single, original title from that franchise that’s been great in the past decade, much less on previous gen consoles). At this rate, you have to wonder if there’s anything that can keep the company going, much less any reason that gamers have to care about Konami after Kojima’s departure.

Sure, there will be other Metal Gear games to release in the coming days even without Kojima’s involvement. Konami may actually reduce its focus on big budget console gaming market and emphasize mobile game development given the success of titles like Dragon Collection. When you consider that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain costs $80 million to produce, not including marketing and distribution, it could be a long while before Konami actually makes its money back on the same.

Mobile gaming, on the other hand, will be a much safer investment for the company in the short term with $1 million budgets offering instant returns. The gaming trend in Japan also seems to be leaning more towards mobile and handheld gaming, as evidenced by slow sales of the PS4 and its games and the continued success of Nintendo (despite the 3DS selling relatively less than the original DS thus far). The question then is what will become of Konami’s efforts in countries outside of Japan. People can only play Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain for so long.

"It’s time to accept that this has been the company’s identity for some time now – a machine with no more room for grand, risky AAA titles – and that Hideo Kojima’s efforts have been the exception more than the rule thus far."

Either way it decides to go, Konami’s future won’t be in jeopardy any time soon, even if later projects and mobile developments don’t quite pan out. Look at Square Enix – despite the failure of Final Fantasy XIV prior to A Realm Reborn, the pathetically low sales of Final Fantasy XIII sequels, long dev cycles for Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 and several mobile games which ranged from successful to downright shitty (we haven’t forgotten you, All The Bravest), it bounced back in tremendous fashion.

Then again, it still had a number of successful Western projects like Hitman and Tomb Raider even if the returns didn’t match expectations. If Square Enix didn’t go down despite many terrible mistakes over a short period of time, Konami should be fine playing it safe.

You could argue that it’s a shame how Konami has been reduced to this state after decades of stellar games. However, it’s time to accept that this has been the company’s identity for some time now – a machine with no more room for grand, risky AAA titles – and that Hideo Kojima’s efforts have been the exception more than the rule thus far.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Now that we know what to expect when it comes to PES 2016 and the graphics settings for the Xbox One, we’re finding out information about other versions of the game, as we get closer to the release of the game. Earlier this week, the requirements for the PC version of the game were released and thankfully for those of us that don’t have a super-powered PC, those requirements appear to be quite average.

This is good news indeed, considering that the further we get into the current generation of consoles, the better graphics we’re seeing. While everyone wants the best appearance they can find that the tech needed to generate those great graphics are too much for their computer. The upside of these requirements is that most newer computers should be able to handle these requirements. The flip-side is that it doesn’t appear the graphics are going to be that much better.

Minimum System Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista SP2
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8 GHz. AMD Athlon II X2 240 or equivalent processor
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X1300 / Intel HD Graphics 2000 or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 8 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible sound card

Recommended System Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 8.1 / 8
Processor: Intel Core i3 530 AMD Phenom II X4 925 or equivalent processor
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X1300 / Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 8 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible sound card

PES 2016 launches on September 15 in North America and on September 17 in Europe for the PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.

Konami may be getting ready to completely contract as far as its games output goes, but it is sticking to some of its surefire money makers- one of them is PES 2016, which, after having won its second consecutive Gamescom award for Best Sports Game, just had its playable demo released.

The playable demo offers single matches of between 6-10-minute duration, and a team roster that includes European giants Juventus, AS Roma, Bayern Munich, the South American pairing of Corinthians and Palmeiras plus the Brazilian and French national sides. Each team has been selected to show the individuality of playing styles and prowess of each team, perfectly illustrating the Team and Player ID systems that elevate PES 2016 to new levels of realism.

PES 2016 is built using Kojima Productions’ FOX Engine, and is hopefully going to continue the long comeback that the PES series has been making over the last few years. It launches later this year. Stay tuned for more information.

Although it was rumored a while back, it has now been officially confirmed- Konami’s pro Evolution Soccer 2016 will indeed be running in a full 1080p on the Xbox One, according to an announcement made just now on the developer’s official Twitter.

This spells good news not just for fans of PES, but also for Xbox One fans in general- the report that leaked PES 2016 being 1080p on the console also specified the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain as running at that same resolution on Microsoft’s console- which would be a step up from the 720p resolution that the game has been expected to run at on the system for a while now. The rumor gains credence especially since PES runs on the same FOX Engine that powers The Phantom Pain does as well.

PES 2016 launches later this year. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.