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While video games appear fairly resilient to the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, that hasn’t stopped some companies from taking a good look at how they work – including Japanese giant Konami, the company behind titles like Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evolution Soccer and current Japanese top-topper Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban!, which we talked about recently.
Hardcore fans have long argued that Konami’s glory days are over, and it’s certainly true that the company has released fewer AAA titles in recent years; it’s heavily invested in health centers and also owns pachinko and entertainment businesses, and those sectors have proven to be very successful lately (well, pre-COVID, anyway).
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why the recent internal restructuring news – which was recently announced to investors – sparked reports that Konami is exiting the games business (and not for the first time, it should note it). In the initial announcement, Konami told investors that it plans to dissolve its production divisions “to respond to the rapid market around us.”
However, a Konami spokesperson has now released a statement to IGN that clarifies these plans:
The announcement refers to an internal restructuring, with the consolidation of the production divisions. We have not “closed” our video game division.
It should be noted that important staff from the three former production divisions have been assigned positions elsewhere in the company. Shoji Dewa (Head of Production Division 2 and Executive Office) will get the title of “ Senior Manager ”, while Tatsuhiko Yamamoto (General Manager, Production Division 3 and Production Department 3) will now focus only on this last department.
These changes are expected to take place on February 1.
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