From a public relations standpoint, this past year has been incredibly rough for Konami. We’ve seen a falling out with its biggest creative resource, the complete removal of any trace of P.T. from the PSN store, and reports of excessively harsh treatment of employees. Now, it seems that Konami is exiting the world of console game development with the single exception of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Considering that Konami holds the rights to some of the most beloved franchises in gaming history, this is incredibly sad news.
Last week, numerous European outlets reported that Konami is getting out of the AAA development market, and the company’s technology director has quit because of this decision. And considering that Konami has only released a measly four games on the current-gen consoles, I can’t say that I’m surprised by this news. Konami’s output during the previous generation was substantial, so the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Instead of bemoaning the death of what once was, let’s examine what we know, and try to understand why we’re getting pachinko machines with “erotic violence” instead of real games.
Despite doubling down on the Kojima brand at the start of this console cycle, there was seemingly a major falling out between Konami and its most well-known creator in early 2015. His name was scrubbed off the Metal Gear Solid V website for a time, his upcoming game Silent Hills was canned, and the playable teaser dubbed “P.T.” was eradicated completely from the PlayStation Network. Over at our sister site IGN, you can view a timeline of events regarding the ordeal with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima.
In August, a report came out of Japan claiming that Konami has numerous policies in place that make employment a hellish Orwellian nightmare. If these reports are accurate, Konami’s decisions aren’t only disappointing to consumers, but they’re also having a serious negative impact on its workforce.
It’s important to keep these kind of details in mind when trying to decipher Konami’s business strategy. Before the money aspect even comes into play, the interpersonal turmoil needs to be factored in. At this point, it’s fairly clear that the Konami situation is much more complicated and sad than “major developer focuses on mobile and gambling.” The problems here run deeper than just financial concerns — internal politics and corporate culture play a huge role.
That’s not to say that money has nothing to do with this train wreck, though. Since Konami reportedly invested more than $80 million in Metal Gear Solid V, it’s easy to understand why the bean counters want to avoid such huge financial risks going forward. AAA development costs have ballooned in the last decade, and so it’s not particularly shocking to see yet another company wash its hands of that part of the industry all together.
By all accounts, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a success, but a major release every couple of years isn’t enough to sustain a large public company. As you can see from the closure of the likes of THQ, Irrational Games, and Team Bondi, releasing good games isn’t always enough. The financial risk of developing gambling machines and free-to-play iOS games is substantially smaller than dumping a ton of money into a single large-scale product.
It’s hard to blame the Konami brass for wanting sure bets instead of relying on Metal Gear to keep the share holders happy. It’s just a shame that so many of the people and franchises we adore have to be sacrificed to the capitalism gods.
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