“Mobile is Where the Future of Gaming Lies,” According to Konami

Konami is shifting its focus toward mobile gaming, to the detriment of AAA titles, according to new CEO Hideki Hayakawa. Hayakawa was interviewed by Japanese site Nikkei Trendy Net, translated into English courtesy of NeoGaf user HGH. In the interview, Hayakawa outlines his intention to push Konami aggressively into the mobile gaming market:

“Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power Pro and Winning Eleven [Pro Evolution Soccer] with additional content, our games must move from selling things like ‘items’ to selling things like ‘features.”

“We saw with these games that even people who buy physical games are motivated to buy extra content. The success of Power Pro especially has motivated us to actively push more of our popular series onto mobile than ever before.”

“Gaming has spread to a number of platforms, but at the end of the day, the platform that is always closest to us, is mobile. Mobile is where the future of gaming lies.”

“With multiplatform games, there’s really no point in dividing the market into categories anymore. Mobiles will take on the new role of linking the general public to the gaming world.”

The interview seems to confirm reports that Konami “is going to burn the entire MGS [Metal Gear Solid] franchise to the ground,” in favour of mobile gaming and gambling.

Thank you Polygon for providing us with this information.