Konami celebrates its 40th birthday

Konami achieves 40 years in business this month, and the Japanese company is already looking ahead to its next four decades – with European growth and new IP a priority.

The publisher has been responsible for creating some of the most popular video games in the world, including Pro Evolution Soccer, Frogger, Castlevania, Dance Dance Revolution, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, and Konami is already on the look out for its next big video game franchise.

Consistency plays a major part in everything Konami does,” Konami of Europe’s president Kunio Neo told MCV.

Throughout the past 40 years, and on the many formats we have supported, we have produced some of the most innovative and memorable titles imaginable.”

The teams we employ all strive to make their titles unique and challenging, and this is as true of our current titles for Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as it was for the Mega Drive, Super NES and GameBoy. Konami is built on a basis of quality, and consumers know that we aim high with our release.

For every well-known franchise, we always have new IPs on the horizon. Lords of Shadow is going to be a big title for us, and Enchanted Folk for DS is going to surprise a lot of people. We also have a wealth of other new titles in development – it is fine to keep people enthralled with titles they know and love, but the people behind them like to try new stuff to keep themselves fresh, and Konami always encourages this. Mr Kojima’s Boktai – the light-sensitive GBA title, is a great example.”

Neo has also reiterated the firm’s commitment to the European marketplace, which he insists is vital to the publisher’s success over the next 40 years of business in video games.

We in Euope play a major part in Konami’s global business,” he concludes.Titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer were so strong in Europe, that Japan created versions tailored to European tastes, and we have a major say in all titles that are on the horizon.

Better still, we are now contributing to the development pot with a raft of stunning titles and – as shown with the likes of GTi Club and New International Track and Field – we are being entrusted with the future of respected Konami titles, and charged with taking them forward.”

Konami’s line-up for 2009 includes Job Island: Hard Working People, Castlevania: Judgement, and Pro Evo 2009 on Wii.