Amidst rumors that Konami will be halting AAA development on their popular titles such as Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Suikoden, Konami came out to Tokyo Game Show this year mainly promoting their sports titles, such as Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 and their Pro Yakyuu baseball series of games, which are popular here in Japan.
Promotion of their sports games was very strong at Tokyo Game Show this year, capturing the pricey back page of the convention's catalog in order to promote their latest game Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Titled Winning Eleven 2016 here in Japan), which is to be released mid-September worldwide or October 1st here in Japan on both PS3 and PS4 platforms.
Their booth was adorned with several advertisements and demos for both of their latest sports games Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 and Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2015 (already released), but with little other advertisement. Konami's latest release, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, was also on show, but the focus here pushed the online component over the actual game.
Konami continued to promote their sports games in all areas of the event, featuring both of their current titles in the family corner as 2 of the 12 family friendly games available there. At Tokyo Game Show, handing out hand fans is a popular form of promotion due to the hot Japanese summers. Konami's fans were perhaps the most bizarre of all, shaped like Brazilian Captain and face of PES 2016, Neymar, in the pose shown on the catalog above.
Of course none of this is proof that Konami are cutting short development on their other popular series to focus solely on sports titles, mobile games, and pachinko machines. Though much like the departure of Hideo Kojima and most recently Julien Merceron, it certainly adds to the evidence that Konami are taking a new business direction.
What are your thoughts on the changes at Konami?
