Why does it feel like everyone except Konami care about CastleVania

Castlevania was first released in 1986. Throughout the years, the franchise has been one of the industry’s pillars. You have gamers that played this franchise as children, just to still play it as full-grown adults (some even at the age of getting gray hairs). But there’s been a problem in recent years. The problem being no Castlevania games were released since 2014. And no, collections don’t count. So what would make Konami actually get one of their franchise IP up and running again? Would the fact that everyone seems to care about the franchise more than they do finally wake them up? Let’s explore that.

First, let’s take a look at Netflix of all places. In 2017, Netflix released the Castlevania animated series. The series is an animated take on Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. On a side note, I still wish they added Grant Dasasty, for the sake of completion if anything. And if that wasn’t enough, Castlevania: Nocturne is coming out later this year. That one looks like it could be Rondo of Blood since Ricter is the main protagonist of the anime. But think of what a good time it would be to capitalize on at least announcing they’re making a new game. If they’re unsure of how to advance the story for now, they can easily go the remake route. Just imagine what a modern Dracula’s Curse or Rondo of Blood game would look like. And it’s not just animation studios giving the series more love than Konami has as of late.

What I’m referring to is the Dead Cells DLC. Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is available on most major platforms. And from the moment it was first announced to the day of release, there’s been an extensive amount of buzz about it. Partially because Dead Cells is a damn good game. And partially because the Castlevania DLC flat-out looks beast. The noise that surrounded this DLC should have at the very least made Konami realize that there’s both life and a market for a return to the franchise, should they decide to take it.

Beyond just simple DLC, there are full-fledged games following the franchise’s legacy. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 1 and 2 follow the same format as the aforementioned Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night comes off as a play on Symphony of the Night and some of the later GBA Castlevania games. Oddly enough, the Bloodstained series was created by a former Castlevania developer, and produced by Koji Igarashi. Then there’s Berzerk Studio’s Infernax, which is heavily modeled after Castlevania 2. Not to mention the many others you’ll find in digital stores.

Castlevania has enough fanfare to be DLC in another game, have multiple spiritual successors, and have animation studios make shows off the IP. Konami announced multiple Silent Hill games, Metal Gear Solid remakes, and even released a new Contra in 2019. But no Castlevania? So the question is, if everyone else has a passion for Castlevania, why doesn’t Konami?

[Snookies12]

Because Konami is a Pachinko company, not a gaming company lol.

[isarai]

This, not only that, nothing is stopping a Castlevania from being made. Konamis stance on their game IPs is that they are personally out of the development business, but are open to licensing the IPs out to anyone who wants to make one (I'm sure there's standards to adhere to, but just saying) hints why all the silent Hill games coming out are done my completely unrelated devs.

[lodossrage]

that's what really gets me. They have like 4 or 5 Silent Hill projects, but no Castlevania? Makes zero sense to me

[shinoff2183]

While right about no new game has released. Collections certainly count. If they release that collection and sales are through the roof then you bet your ass their paying attention.

[lodossrage]

Yeah but how much more attention do they need? Their other franchises don't get as much attention yet their all getting remakes or new versions. The collections for Castlevania have been out for at least 4 years now on psn/xbl. Yet still no new game announced.

The collections are no different than easy cash grabs for them. Just like Capcom and Namco do with their old games.

[shinoff2183]

That was partly my point. Maybe they had weak sales so they don't think the demand is there.

[P_Bomb]

The Belmonts deserve better.

[anast]

The make most of their money on slot machines. They are cheaper to make and there is more money involved.

[CrimsonWing69]

I thought those collections they released were wonderful. It comes down to money though, I’d the franchise profitable? It’s easy as fans to say, make Castlevania, but as a business is there a return on investment?

[dmonee]

Im all for them stalling. I’m happy we didn’t end up with a huge, empty, open world castlevania. Playing Witcher 3, I was thinking about how cool it could have been if it was a Castlevania game. There have been so many open world, games the last 5-10 years. My fear was that a Castlevania would come out of the woodwork, with a big bloated, boring open world, and lose its essence in the process, trying to compete with similar games. If Konami does decide to reinvigorate the franchise, I would be happy with the old 2D formula with current gen visuals, and other cool concepts integrated

[anast]

You don't have to worry about that because they aren't going to make a remake at all.

[mastershredder]

Yeah because you are s special white knight that needs to save Castlevania from Konami, because clearly only you and gamers like you get "it".

You could have saved that whole write-up by deducting that Castlevania is not a big money maker for Konami. Buy, hey you know their business better than they do, through fandom.... Just delicious.