Konami is bowing out of AAA development for all franchises except Pro Evolution Soccer.
On the heels of a handful of employees leaving Konami, french website Gameblog as well as Eurogamer.net have reported the publisher will no longer be investing in AAA console games any more. The only exception to this drastic corporal shift is their Pro Evolution Soccer franchise. Konami technology director Julien Merceron who recently left the company has pointed to the publisher’s shift in focus to mobile games development has the main reason.
Aside from Metal Gear Online- the multiplayer game mode for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, Konami has no plans for development of future major console releases. This leaves the console future of Konami’s bigger IPs up in the air, Castlevania and Silent Hill to name a few. Issues between developers and Konami came to the public light earlier this year when Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima left the company and dissolved his development team Kojima Productions. The ordeal led to Konami removing Kojima’s name and studio logo from the game completely.
The last AAA console title Konami released was Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, September 1, 2015. MGS 5 was released to much critical and commercial success, earning perfect scores from many websites and magazines.
