There was uproar earlier this month when reports began to surface that Konami had adopted a "mobile first" strategy to new game development. "Our main platform will be mobile," Konami CEO Hideki Hayakawa said, according to a NeoGAF translation of a Nikkei Trendy interview. "Mobile is where the future of gaming lies." Startling stuff, if that was what Hayakawa had actually said.
It wasn't. We updated our report with a more complete translation the same day it ran, but Konami is clearly still trying to get the word out that it's hasn't abandoned traditional game platforms. Those early reports "lacked the necessary context and caused unrest within our key stakeholders including our community, members of the press, our partners, and our fans," Konami PR Director Jay Boor explained in a message sent to Ars Technica. "Konami will continue to embrace the challenge of creating entertainment content via different platforms; across not only mobile platforms, but for home consoles, arcade units, and cards, to meet the changing needs of the times."
The fully translated interview does include the phrase "mobile first," but went on to clarify that it doesn't mean the company's focus will be purely on mobile games. "Our aim is to continue to build up a comprehensive portfolio of console, arcade, and card game titles for each IP while also making the best possible use of the mobile devices that accompany our customers in their daily life, thus expanding the limits of entertainment and appealing to more and more customers," Hayakawa said. "So if our business to date has operated like a string of individual stores, then this revised approach makes us a major department store."
Boor apologized for the "great deal of anxiety" caused by recent events at Konami, including the "mobile first" interview, a major organizational shakeup, the cancellation of Silent Hills, and the apparent split with Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima. He also reaffirmed Konami's commitment to the Metal Gear and Silent Hill franchises, saying, "We have nurtured them with care over many years since their inception, and will continue to produce products for both franchises, but we are not currently at a stage where we can announce the path these future titles will take."
