After an increase in speculation, Konami clarified that it is merely restructuring its production divisions, not closing its game studios.
Earlier this month, Konami published a very innocuous article report which touched on some corporate appointments, other personnel changes and “organizational restructuring”. This last part covers three production divisions that will be dissolved. The report says that this decision was made “to respond to the fast-moving market around us”, but some readers have interpreted this to mean that the publisher is shutting down three feature divisions entirely, perhaps including its game development arm.
This misunderstanding was probably fueled by the fact that Konami, which was once the bustling home of Metal Gear and Silent Hill, has constantly distanced itself from conventional game development in the past two years or more. Things peaked this week, when the report reappeared in some dramatic posts, so Gematsu reports, Konami released a new declaration to put out fires:
“The announcement made refers to an internal restructuring, with production divisions being consolidated,” said Konami. “We don’t close our video game division.”
It’s easy to forget, but Konami operates in a variety of markets, not all in games. She makes mobile games, card games and pachinko machines, in addition to the highly successful games for which she is best known. This restructuring was probably driven by a number of markets, not just video games, so fans of Metal Gear and Silent Hill shouldn’t be concerned – at least, no more concerned than they were two weeks ago. This is unlikely to affect Konami’s approach to conventional game development in a negative way, but it also doesn’t necessarily drive it.
Konami may not be making Silent Hill games anymore, but the series creator has a new horror game in progress.