After an increase in speculation, Konami explained that it is simply restructuring its production divisions and not shutting down its studios.
Earlier this month, Konami released a fairly harmless publication report which touched on some corporate appointments, other staff changes and “organizational restructuring.” The last bit covers three production divisions that will be disbanded. The report says that this decision was made “to respond to the fast-paced market that surrounds us”, but some readers believe it is that the publisher is hampering three resources worth three sections, perhaps even its game development arm.
This misunderstanding was presumably fueled by the fact that Konami, the former home of Metal Gear and Silent Hill, has gradually distanced itself from game development over the past two years. Things got to a point this week when the report resurfaced under some dramatic posts Gematsu reported, Konami issued a new statement to put out the fires:
“The announcement referred refers to an internal restructuring, with production divisions being consolidated,” Konami said. “We did not close our video game department.”
It’s easy to forget, but Konami is active in a variety of markets, and not all of them play. It makes mobile games, card games and pachinko machines, in addition to the blockbuster games for which it is best known. This restructuring is likely to be driven by multiple markets, not just video games, and Metal Gear and Silent Hill fans should not worry – at least not more worried than two weeks ago. This is unlikely to negatively impact Konami’s approach to mainstream game development, but it will not necessarily.
Konami may not make Silent Hill games anymore, but the creator of the series has a new horror game in the works.