Konami Shifts Its Focus to Mobile Gaming

[bp9801]

The recent strangeness that has occured at Konami has finally become clear, as the company's new CEO Hideki Hayakawa states mobile gaming is now Konami's future. Speaking in an interview with Nikkei Trendy Net and translated by a user at NeoGAF, Hayakawa had the following to say:

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. Mobile is where the future of gaming lies. We hope that our overseas games such as

Metal Gear Solid V

and

Winning Eleven

continue to do well, but we are always thinking about how to push our franchises onto mobile there too. With multiplatform games, there's really no point in dividing the market into categories anymore. Mobiles will take on the new role of linking the general public to the gaming world.

After seeing P.T. removed from the PlayStation Store, the cancellation of Silent Hills, and Hideo Kojima's upcoming departure (and removal of his name from digital games), many were left wondering just what Konami was doing. Now we know, and that future is mobile. From a business standpoint it makes sense, since a mobile game can rake in huge amounts of profit for minimal development risk, while big PC/console games take up a lot of resources and may not perform as well as hoped. Going with a mobile gaming focus can mean more games released on smaller budgets, with a potentially larger audience picking them up. It also is perfect to make a ton of money when you factor in micro-transactions, because there will always be some people willing to spend a ton of cash on that one addicting mobile game. The Japanese market is huge on mobile gaming, so this probably played into Konami's decision more than other markets. Nintendo is also delving into mobile gaming, just nowhere close to Konami's level, so maybe this is just a sign of changing times.

Despite all of this, it is rather sad to see a company like Konami change its focus in such a way. Perhaps the last great Konami game we'll have on PC and consoles is Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain when it arrives this September. Things may change later on, but right now, Konami is going mobile-only.

Source: NeoGAF

Back to original news post