Everybody’s favorite punching bag Konami dropped a nugget of news yesterday that may or may not alter your opinion of it. On June 2, Konami published a Western indie action platformer title named Skelattack. This isn’t often the kind of move you’d see from a Japanese developer, but it is apparently part of the company’s new publishing plan moving forward.
Konami branches out
Richard Jones, the senior European brand and business development manager at Konami, went on record to say that the company has a newfound “drive” toward “publishing more titles from Western studios.” He goes on to say in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, “Obviously everyone knows Konami, we have studios and teams in Japan, we have many well-known, well-loved IPs. They’re all being managed and looked after by our studios in Japan, and what we’re looking for is complementary titles, to build the portfolio with things that perhaps [are] new to Konami – Western titles for Western audiences.”
“We’re only now just going public with this, with the release of Skelattack, [but] I’m sure you can imagine that this has been planned for months,” Jones continued. “So, right now, we’re looking at short- and mid-term titles that need funding and publishing support to realize their potential. I think long-term, from my perspective, it’s about forming creative partnerships with studios.”
Companies like Bandai Namco have proven that this tactic can work. Titles like Man of Medan are proof positive of that. But this is Konami we are talking about, and given the company’s track record in recent years, we’ll just have to see what comes of this new strategy. It does have potential though. Skelattack seems to be reviewing very well. Plus, the use of Silent Hill in Dead by Daylight is the best use of that IP in… 17 years? Wow, that actually hurt to type.
