Japanese video game developer and publisher Konami is switching its market trajectory from console to mobile games.
This announcement comes amid the murky status of Metal Gear developer Hideo Kojima’s with the company and its cancelling of Kojima’s survival horror game Silent Hills.
Hideki Hayakawa, Konami’s president, stated that “gaming has spread to multiple platforms, but the platform that is always closest to us is mobile… mobile is where the future of gaming lies.”
He also remarked that “mobiles will take on the new role of linking the general public to the gaming world,” perhaps alluding to mobile’s capacity of attracting players who do not identify as gamers and thus do not own a console with the primary function of gaming.
By switching to mobile, Konami appears to be maximizing its revenue chain. Mobile gaming accounts for an increasingly greater proportion of the company’s “digital entertainment” section of its revenue. However, “digital entertainment,” as a whole, has been decreasing as a proportion of Konami’s revenue.
While not very successful outside of Japan, Konami’s mobile games have been a huge hit inside the country. These games often feature microtransactions; gamers can pay real-life money to purchase in-game content. While Hayakawa seeks to further utilize this technique, moving away from console games could undermine the technical sophistication of Konami’s future releases, as mobile games have fewer input capabilities.
Follow Rob Shimshock on Twitter @Xylyntial.
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