Following a full translation from GameIndustry, we now have better context for earlier translated comments about Konami’s future direction from representative director Hideki Hayakawa.
I felt strongly that from now on, mobile will be at the heart of game platforms, and that we need a business strategy which creates games in accordance with observations of consumer usage trends. Arcade games, console games, card games; we need to shift from selling ‘physical things’ to selling ‘intangible things’.
Within those initiatives, it’s not that we’re going to totally stop selling console game software; we’re starting to introduce the so-called ‘additional charges model’ to Jikkyo Power Pro Baseball and Winning Eleven.
Hayakawa clarifies that going mobile first does not mean they’re dropping out of other platforms. However, they are taking ideas from mobile, such as additional content, and bringing them to all their businesses.
