Take this with a pinch of salt, as it’s not clear if these reports are accurate, but Eurogamer understands (via French site Gameblog) that increasingly infamous games publisher, Konami, has ceased production of all games except for the Pro Evolution Soccer series.
Normally, ICXM and myself especially do not like to report on rumours. But this has been expected for months now, as the company’s relationship with the video game industry has never been very good and, as seen with its treatment of Hideo Kojima, has declined rapidly over the past year. Konami is known to prefer its Pachinko machine business in Japan to games publishing. The company delisted itself from the New York stock exchange for reasons believed to be related to this. It’s also been regularly reported over the past few years that Konami allegedly has egomaniacal executives and treats its employees poorly, although there is only circumstantial evidence and anonymous whistleblowers to prove this.
If it is true that Konami is pulling out of the video game industry, then as said, it is not unexpected after their regularly demonstrated lack of interest in the business. As well as the problems stated above, they also do not like to interact with press outlets, nor do they take care of their own franchises or creative people. The Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid series’ have already fallen apart because of this, but those are only the tip of the iceberg.
A withdrawal from the industry would surely mean many job losses, but those people will probably be better off in the long run with a better company. It will also mean that their franchises might be sold off, but given the alleged arrogance of their executive committee, they may decide to let their IP rot. Hopefully this will not be the case. Regardless of what happens, it will be a shame to see a company that was at one time of another well-respected despite its flaws.
Dean was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 39 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @SpookyWomble.