Konami crawling back into AAA gaming... ...just as Japan cracks down on Pachinko machines.

Don't know why no one has posted this yet, but here goes.

Konami's European President Masami Saso has recently re-committed to AAA game development and publishing in an article on gamesindustry.biz:

"Even with new platforms coming out, we believe high-end console games are the most important. We challenge for innovative ideas and technology within our console games and apply them to other devices, so we will continue to put effort into our console games. We also plan to increase our portfolio. In addition to the multi-device titles for PES and Yu-Gi-Oh, we plan to work on projects with other globally known IPs in the near future."

Hmm... ...what is motivating this shift back from their post-Kojima "PachinKonami" strategy which earned them record revenues, I wonder? I'm sure it has nothing to do with Japan's crackdown on Pachinko machines which started last year:

The rules, aimed at curbing gambling addiction, are part of a policy barter that helped legalize casinos in 2016 despite widespread opposition. Japan passed regulations on casino developments last week, including those on gambling addiction.

The new anti-addiction rules call for pachinko machines to reduce payouts. That means players win and lose money more slowly - and will perhaps find the game less exciting and addictive.

Pachinko halls are required to comply in the next three years. Owners like Suzuki worry not only about the cost of replacing machines, but that regulars will find the new games too dull.

Nope, not related at all.

Anyway, I suppose we can finally look forward to "Metal Gear Solid VI: No Kojima, No Problem" soon. Time to restart the hype machine.

Screw konami. Another former king that sold out. Say what you like about Nintendo they never betrayed themself.

I hope for a Capcom like revival .

Good. Now bring back Silent Hills you f_cking bastards.

Sorry. Konami triggers me like no other.

Haha... Idiots.

Give me Zone of the Enders 3 and all is forgiven.

Ha, ha, ha. Well look who’s come crawling back. Regardless I still hope this goes well because they do have some of my all time favourite game franchises.

thanks to konami, mgs is as good as dead.

Even if Konami desires to re-enter the AAA sphere, I doubt their business is structured in a way that’s conducive to such a business model. Do they even have any developmental talent left whatsoever? Given their past reputation for treating their employees like garbage and being viciously vindictive towards them, will they have much luck reestablishing this? They have a legacy of legendary IPs sure....which have been gutted to be shamelessly exploited in an entirely different industry.

**** off Konami. I imagine they have serious work to do and amends to make before they can even consider stepping back into the ring.

They've already destroyed their legacy by driving off their best talent and pledging never to make those games again publicly. They also treat their employees like trash.

**** the konami execs.

If they can make good AAA games again not filled with lootboxxes I'm in but.... I seriously doubt this will happen. It would be cool if they brought back Silent Hill and it was done right but yeah that's all one big pipe dream.

Well, they're still releasing PES games, and they did release Metal Gear Survive last year. That said, if they're going to ramp up their AAA releases, which it sounds like they are, they might have to form new studios and hire new staff, or outsource to third-party studios. It means investing a lot of those Pachinko millions.

But it can be done.

Go konami, as anyone smart enough to get rid of that hack Kojima is alright in my book.

Hopefully they leave that over hyped garbage that is Silent Hill on the shelf where it belongs :)

Cool, they have some great franchises I would love to see get some love.

Kojima version yes but one by a new team I would be fine with.

Konami management are a bunch of Incompetent fools.

**** 'em.

@warmblur: Most of the Silent Hills after the original PS1 and PS2 games have sucked. The lack of Team Silent killed the franchise. And the Western outsourcing made it worse. Kojima was the last great hope of reviving the franchise. But with neither Team Silent or Kojima, there's little hope left for Silent Hill.

They have some great IPS, but it's hard to build studios from nothing. I guess if they throw enough $$$ at it they can get some talent to come back. But starting from scratch, on an AAA project that hasn't even started yet, it would be at least 2-3 years most likely before anything could realistically be put together... and that's if things actually go well.

Of course on their last "AAA" projects they were pretty much outsourcing work to outside studios, so I guess they could always do that. But it would still be years off.

Depends. There are competent devs out there. Just depends if they outsource it to a competent dev or not. They should really just remake the 1st game at this point.

@2Chalupas: They kind of already did remake the first Silent Hill with Shattered Memories, though it's more of a reimagining. That was the only good outsourced Silent Hill. The rest sucked.

Konami should bet on design teams and non proprietary engines to bring back their IP. Take a step back from the Fox Engine and the authoring of its content that used to plague their investment. Use a model similar to that of new Hitman and make actual games. Design over engineering and the market instead of an author.

@l3igl3oss: Ummm...what?

I dont mind, heck I will even defend konami if they announce suikoden project on ps4.

Hey it was just business guys, plz come back.

Konami probably makes way more on their slot machines than their silly one region pachinko machines. Go to any casino in North America, they’re littered with Konami slot machines.

It's not bad news to have a previously great developer/publisher care about gaming again.