Konami's CEO Sees The Future!

Okay, so that was intentional mockery of a desperate businessman. Shame on me. But you have to admit, had that been the title of this article, it would have gotten far more views (Clickbait powers, away!).


In a recent interview with Nikei Trendy Net, Konami's CEO Hideki Hayakawa said “Our main platform will be mobiles. Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power pro and Winning Eleven with additional content, our games must move from selling things like “items” to selling things like “features.” (Emphasis mine).

Whether this move to mobile will be immediate or not, is unclear. However what we can garner from this comment and a few other comments that he made is that Konami is definitely pushing their games onto the mobile market, and plans to make them another bunch of the ever so dreaded "freemium" apps that require payment for additional features. It's like DLC....only not nearly as optional if you want to win.

The move for now seems mostly focused on the eastern market, as Hayakawa says that Konami hopes that their overseas titles continue doing well, citing such games as Metal Gear solid V. However he also stated that they're looking for ways to push even these titles into the mobile industry. His reason for doing so? "Mobile is where the future of gaming lies" according to him.


Smart Business, Or Famous Last Words?

While it certainly seems that Hayakawa is sure of his decision, the opinion from most fans and critics alike is that this is the proverbial nail in the coffin for Konami. Reactions ranging from laughter, to disappointment, to anger are surfacing all across the gamer community, and Konami is finding very little support, at least on this side of the world (read: outside of Japan. I cannot speak for the Japanese consumers reactions).

Indeed, the mobile market is lightly esteemed by the devoted gamer crowd in general, and it doesn't look as though Konami is doing anything to sway that opinion. The consensus thus far is that this is either a cash grab move, or a desperate attempt to salvage a slipping company.


In Conclusion

In a world where console and PC games are taking off like never before and systems are being pushed to their limits for photorealism, top notch audio, and all around great and innovative control mechanisms, will phones and tablets really be able to keep up with dedicated platforms for serious gamer attention? Given the extremely limited specs, the only logical answer seems to be an obvious "no". Will Konami prove us naysayers wrong? Well a few big name companies (much bigger names than Konami) have tried to prove that these features are not important these days, but so far all of them have failed.

But what does Vizzed think? Is this the beginning of a bright future for Konami, or their last stand? And is this a well thought out business decision, or a move of desperation by a struggling CEO?

This blew up my Facebook feed for some reason.
I think it's a meh decision, I think mobile gaming is going to be a succesful market, but i'm not all too big in to it, and most of the games I do play on my Phone, are Retro Games on emulators.

RIP: Konami

Left the longtime consumer base, to switch to the get quick rich scheme that is mobile gaming. But on the other hand, Metal Gear: F.l.a.p.p.y Bird Ops, and Castlevania...Themed Candy Crush Clone are looking pretty good.

Eirinn :

"Mobile is where the future of gaming lies"

PC, yes.

Mobile?

What has happened to the older generation's view on gaming?

imamonster : I agree: mobile gaming will be successful and it won't be going away anytime soon (in my opinion, it'll never go away), but the future of gaming it is not.


A user of this : Yeah, mobile is not the way to go for a company that's already publishing on consoles. And while that market can produce serious games, Konami's approaching it the wrong way with the "pay as you play" design. That's for casual game devs, or at least that's my feelings on the matter.


Sword legion : I have to differ with you in that I don't see PC as the future of gaming (maybe just because I'd currently just as soon quit gaming as game on PC only) as it's still too costly for most people to keep up to date hardware and software for cutting edge performance, and let's face it: if AAA devs have an opportunity for more power presented to them via a hardware or software update, they'll take it. In many ways it just isn't nearly as accessible as console and handheld gaming.

However, we definitely agree that mobile is not the way for a serious AAA dev to go. In ways it's too limited for my team's first game even, let alone a serious AAA company who has decades of experience and tons of financial support and high end equipment. They're essentially giving up on dedicated gamers by limiting their games for the sake of making money by nickle and diming casual gamers to death. "Need more energy? Tap to buy more for $4.99!" Please.

Eirinn : PC gaming is going to be big, the big issue is, that if you want to play the same games on PS4 and XBONE, your going to have to pay a lot more then what you would for a PS4 and xbone
But, I think it's a lot more efficient.

Maybe it will be in Japan (I don't really know I am just guessing) but it probably won't be for other countries. I have played a lot of PES (winning eleven) and I already have their mobile version of it. It is quite good despite the fact certain items you need to pay for. If Konami are to crumble and fall I don't think they'll be the only ones.

Of course they are going to mobile. If the Westboro Baptist Church found a place full of people unlike them that they can hate to their heart's content they would be there before you could say "equal rights". Before I even opened your article I knew exactly what their games would be like. Part of it is because I can see the future and the other part of it is because I've seen the past. Not content with milking us for money with things like micro payments in triple A games, many triple A companies are moving to mobile where micro payments are part of the starter kit you get when you walk in the door. Whether or not  Rose Konami is sitting on a door in the freezing Atlantic while Jack Kojima holds on is irrelevant to them going into the mobile community, as it was more likely to happen than a teenage girl identifying with a Taylor Swift song.

imamonster : Yeah, PC gaming is already big and will get bigger, I just hate it personally. Vizzed is the only place I game on a PC.


DylanMcKaig : The move does seem to be mostly in Japan, but he did say that they were always thinking of ways to push our portion of their market into mobile as well. I don't know if they'll ever go mobile exclusive though, as they did say mobile would be their "main" focus rather than "only" focus.


ender44 : Yeah, it seems that most AAA companies are moving into mobile as well, I was surprised however that they opted for a "mainly" mobile focus.

I personally despise the pay as you play formula however. This plagues mobile games like crazy. Instead they should either use ad support or sell at a flat rate price.