Konami was a once proud company. You could look at it every few years and expect something great, like a Castlevania , Silent Hill , Metal Gear Solid or, if you go back far enough, even a Contra or Suikoden . But those days are long gone, and an untrustworthy conglomerate remains in its place. People should be cautious with any news that comes out of it.
This is a company not exactly known for forthright behavior. Remember what happened first with Hideo Kojima? Konami started trying to bury Kojima Productions during Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ‘s development and promotion. We still don’t know exactly what happened there and probably never will.
The same happened with Silent Hills . This was a promising project with Kojima, Guillermo del Toro, Norman Reedus, and Konami. The game looked promising, and it died. Konami never said what led up to the events. No one involved is talking, though del Toro did say he’ll never work on a video game again. That’s hardly encouraging.
Now, two rumors are coming out of the company. The first is that Konami isn’t making any triple-A games that aren’t Pro Evolution Soccer titles. This seems likely, given PES 2016 and Metal Gear Solid Online were the only games at the company’s Tokyo Game Show booth. The new president of Konami Digital Entertainment, Hideki Hayakawa, has even gone on record as saying as he wants to shift to mobile and digital games. There’s even talk that Julien Merceron, one of the creators of the Fox Engine used in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , has left Konami.
Yet, now a statement from a Customer Support Representative at Konami says that the company will still make console games like Metal Gear Solid , Silent Hill , and Castlevania . Yet, one has to consider the source. This is one bit of information in the face of a major trend. It’s coming from a Customer Support Representative, and not someone higher up the corporate ladder. Who knows what inside information they do and don’t have access to?
This is a call for caution. I know people want to believe Konami could still do great things. It’s a company responsible for many beloved titles, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was great. But it’s also one that hasn’t been treating its collaborators well and has been making business decisions that are less than wise. While this new rumor that it isn’t abandoning AAA may be nice to cling to, it wouldn’t be smart to do so.