Konami to halt development of PC and console games

Maybe, as the only thing good about this, this will bring mobile remakes (or better follow ups) of some historical MSX games

you mean microtransactions-for-the-most-futile-and-basic-game-functionality? Blegh. *starts penguin adventure on MSX*

I know there had been many anonymous sources lately claiming things aren't going well at Konami, but aren't you a bit premature with this "news"? I read the article about this post (on that gameblog) on tweakers and they say its a rumour.

It is not an official statement by Konami, just a post on a gamers site.

I do feel saddened by the rumours, but I will have my moment of silence and lit a candle when Konami comes forward with a press release regarding this.

IMHO the Konami we knew and loved died around a decade ago. We are only witnessing its death throes.

I don't care as long as they keep making games for MSX.... uh, wait...
Oo well, I still can play them

@syn With Silent Hills being cancelled, its playable trailer being pulled offline, Igarashi going to Kickstarter to fund a Castlevania-style game and Kojima's name being removed from the MGS5 box art, I think there is at least a core of truth in the rumors.

Why spend $80M to create something great and hope to sell enough to make a profit, when you can spend much less and create something mediocre that exploits people's weaknesses for a guaranteed income stream. Note that this describes both gambling and microtransaction-heavy mobile games, so I guess they've got their corporate synergy going.

Most of the staff of what we once knew as the creative Konami founded [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_(company)]Treasure[/url] after a big layoff from Konami in the 90s. They made some fantastic games like GunStar Heroes, but it has been a long time since I've seen a game from them.

And their last games for MSX were also their best… Imagine if they had made a couple more…

R.I.P., thanks for all great moments with our MSX.

Konami is not the company that use to be 80s and 90s. But MSX is still alive thanks to the great comunity and the new and fresh developments.

WE KEEP THE MSX ALIVEEEEE!!!!!!

I haven't seen that many efforts from Konami on mobiles either, actually.... in fact, they just pulled a whole bunch of games from the App Store.

Pachinko and Slot Machines on the other hand, big time. They are probably making a lot of money on those. Good for them.

Drunken penguins/war veterans playing slot machines seem very appropriate now....

...you can also exchange 1000 fish for any item of choice instead of gambling.

Translating by bullet points:

• Metal Gear - Yeah, sure, but without the original creator, because screw that guy and his fanboys.
• Silent Hill - Of course, like most games in the franchise, we won't actually work on it, because why do it when you can pay someone else to do it? Unless it's pachislot. Then we'll do it to maximize revenue.
• Castlevania - We could pay another developer to make another God of War clone with generic music. Or we could milk the cow with another pachislot project. Either way, fans will be so pleased!
• PES - Ka-ching!

Somehow, that doesn't inspire much confidence.

I think Kojima is our only hope for that, but the IP is owned by Konami. I just pray Kojima now has the freedom to work on an awesome new project. I would hope for an RPG, but they’re not so much in fashion anymore nowadays...

the CEO did talk about mobile though (back in May).... but even from scouting around Konami JP's site I actually don't see too much of it. MGSV and PES are there, so is the ever-present Bemani, their health/fitness stuff and then a few mobile games. Elsewhere (international sites) its Slot Machines and not much else.
Maybe I'm missing something, though. Afterall, i can't read Japanese so I have to go on images and whatever news is translated.

This really hurts!!!!!!!!!!

Aw, Squenix is still well and alive! I’ve had a lot of fun playing FFXIV (although haven’t played much lately), Deus Ex Human Revolution was awesome and a new one is coming, as well as a new Dragon Quest! (Looking forward to that one…)

(That said, there’s quite a dearth of new IP in RPG land… That’s why Kojima needs to make a super awesome new cyberpunk RPG that shakes up the genre! )

It always amuses me to see people refer to Konami as an "MSX developer" and even more when users imply that Konami owes anything to us.

Konami is a company that produces whatever gives them money for whatever platform is profitable at the time. Their MSX games were just a small portion of all the stuff they've done. Get over it.

Konami games released by year and platform (source)

Yes, I like Konami's MSX games as much as anyone else, but please stop referring to them as the paladins of MSX-ness.

Nice chart indeed!

But it depends on how you look at it... The way I see it, for a couple of years there they pretty much did MSX and Arcade only... And they kept supporting MSX until quite late in its life cycle.

It seems that aside from a few PC-88 titles, MSX was the system where they took their first steps in development for home computers, at some point developing more games for MSX than they did for arcade. I’m sure they gained much of their fame there, MSX has played a large role in the history of Konami. But then MSX started to show signs of decline, so as a healthy business they expended their market and started to develop for the NES and other systems.

Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. Konami did very, very good games. That doesn't mean that they were partial to the MSX over other platforms.

Other of my favourite companies were Compile (the Zanac / Aleste sagas), Falcom (Wanderers from Ys), Eurosoft (Guttblaster), etc...

Yes. Kojima, as a guy who made his career in the MSX, certainly has good memories of the MSX, and now that he has the power to say what goes in his games he has shown that a few times. Konami, as a company, no.

Yes! MicroCabin is another of my favorite developers. I don't think they were great at the technical level, but the ambientation in their games was fantastic (Xak II, The Tower of Gazzel, Fray... Illusion City not so much).

Is it going to be better than Bloodstained though?

Still, good to see that Konami is still making games. Surprised that they’re making a new Castlevania when Igarashi left Konami because they didn’t want to make a new Castlevania. Guess the success of Bloodstained showed them the error of their ways!