Konami to buy majority stake in Hudson

Konami has announced that it plans to buy a 38 percent stake in Bomberman publisher Hudson Soft for 5 billion yen (about $40 million). Additionally, Konami reserves the right to increase its stake in Hudson to 45 percent on December 1. As a result of the transaction, Konami will become the primary shareholder in the Hokkaido, Japan-based company. Konami executives said that the deal is aimed at its efforts to reduce costs in game development for next-generation consoles.

"The alliance reflects our ongoing efforts to reduce the rising development costs stemming from advances in video game machines,'' Toshiro Tateno, a director for Konami, told Reuters. "The deal will boost our earnings over the long term, but the impact for the current business year is not yet determined because we are still making our assessment."

Hudson has developed the Bomberman and Bloody Roar series, among others.