Konami's Game Division Revenues Diminish But Company Reports Overall Increase

Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami has reported a net revenue increase of 0.3 percent over the previous year, as well as an increase in operating income of 87.8 percent.

However, Konami Digital Entertainment, the arm of the business principally associated with game development and publishing, posted a net revenue of ¥96,975 million (around $80,000), a decrease of 7.1 percent over its previous fiscal year. It is likely this decline can be attributed to the fact that it released fewer games and its shift in focus to mobile.

Mobile games were a key topic of analysis in its performance reports, with titles such as Jikkyou Pwafuru Puroyaku, Professional Baseball Dream Nine, the Crows x Worst series, Dragon Collection, and PES Manager highlighted for providing a stable income.

Discussing console games, Pro Evolution Soccer 2015, in particular the myClub mode's online payment system, was said to have performed well. Konami admits that, despite the release of other games, "the number of sold titles decreased" during the fiscal year.

Looking forward, smartphones and tablets are highlighted as an opportunity for the company to diversify and reach greater audiences, which Konami intends to exploit by developing "ways of playing games that match the characteristics of each device."

For console games, it is aiming toward including "sustained operation" modes that "utilize the operational expertise of mobile games." PES 2015's myClub is expected to continue contributing to profits.

Konami's expectations for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain weren't discussed in any detail, it instead opted to simply say the upcoming title has "garnered great response from home and abroad."

As expected, Konami did not address recent high-profile rumours of Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima's departure. Although Konami has not yet outright confirmed he has left, it is believed Kojima will depart following the release of Metal Gear Solid 5.

Konami has removed the Kojima Productions logo from official artwork for The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes. It also removed references to titles being "A Hideo Kojima Game" from marketing material. The Kojima Productions logo was also removed from the Silent Hills/P.T. website, before Silent Hills was outright cancelled.

Read GameSpot's The State of Konami feature for a detailed exploration of the current state of the company.