Konami is Inviting Indie Developers to Make New Games Based on Some of Its Classic Series

Konami has announced an indie game contest that actively asks small developers to make games based on some of its classic series, including Gradius, Ganbare Goemon, and many more.

[lodossrage]

that sort of sounds like they just don't want to pay their own in house devs (whoever is left anyway) so they'd rather make cheaper contracts with indie developers. Pretty crappy thing to do. But then again, we know how Kojima and Igarashi were treated so this doesn't shock me.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that new games of classics will be made, But to outsource when you already have a work force just because you're being cheap just doesn't sit well with me

[RaidenBlack]

Or maybe the inhouse team is not up to the mark?
Maybe post-MGSurvive, the concepts/prototype they demoed to the higher ups were not greenlit worthy?

[lodossrage]

That's possible,

But I seriously doubt it. Besides metal gear, how many major games have they put out in the past few years that were high quality not counting collections or remakes?

You mean to tell me they have in house devs sitting around doing nothing for all these years just for cheaper indie companies to do the work they should be? If they felt that way, why not just let them go instead of keep them around for years on end.

[RaidenBlack]

@lodossrage
Well they have corresponding teams for eFootball, Bomberman and Yu-Gi-Oh.
Rumor has it that one internal team has been trying to make a new Silent Hill project. But who know how far they've progressed if the rumors are considered true.

[blacktiger]

you are getting it all wrong

[jznrpg]

Well , management is huge when it comes to games . Funding , time , and hiring the right people and the right number of people are huge for a game and most of that is on the management to provide . Devs can fail despite good support (I bet it’s much more rare) but if management is failing them it’s difficult to make a good game .

[Knushwood Butt]

@ lodossrage

https://www.konami.com/game...

Has sold more than 3M copies. Whether it is high quality or not, I have no opinion.

[Absonite]

Honestly, if anything fresh ideas may make these games better.

[deleted]

Very true. Sonic Mania was the highest rated Sonic in 15 years, and developed by fans known in the ROM community. I'd trust an external passionate team for Konami's classic properties before I'd trust Konami themselves. I'm just leery of their judgment of who to choose.

[Eonjay]

Fortunately for us, some of these entries are bound to be excellent.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I'm excited for real

[CrimsonWing69]

Well, this doesn’t sound good.

[masterfox]

hmm Konami refocusing into video game development again instead of pure Pachinko ?, sounds good to me, would love to see a full fledge 3d Gradius.

[CDbiggen]

Good idea, get some new talent in, give them a chance, see what fresh new ideas they can bring to these classic IPs.

[sourOG]

Indie devs like blue box. That would explain Sony kissing their ass.

[GhostofHorizon]

Show us on the doll where Blue Box and Sony touched you.

They already said they are not working on Silent Hill, at this point there have been half a dozen rumours of different studios working on Silent Hill.

[sourOG]

I’m not upset derpy. Blue box is an indie studio, if they got the silent hill license it would explain why Sony is trying to secure them so hard and putting up with the marketing fumbles. It’s just a harmless observation, I don’t care what they said. So defensive lol. Are you blue box’s jealous girlfriend?

[lodossrage]

what does this even have to do with Sony?

[sourOG]

Read above. Relax. Move on.

[lodossrage]

I read your above comment.

All I see is you conflating a situation that is about Konami onto Sony. And what's this "relax" about?

[sourOG]

Relax as in not making rape jokes. It’s not that serious.

The situation is indie devs getting a go at Konami properties. It reminded me of blue box. I’m not bashing Sony, they are silent. Dead silent. It’s weird and this explains why.

“Waaa But they already said they aren’t!”. Have you seen what they are working on? Anyone? I could be wrong.

[lodossrage]

One is a rumor (Sony). The other is factual (Konami admitted).

So I still see this as not having anything to do with Sony until otherwise stated from them or bluebox directly.

[sourOG]

Sony has everything to do with the point I’m making. This article reminded me of an indie developer situation.

Sony secured it as a ps5 exclusive and developed one of a kind marketing. What’s so special about the developer to bend over backwards? I have always thought that. This would explain it,

Sony also does a good job of separating themselves from the controversies. It’s not a Sony product anymore when they fumble their custom live action app with trophies lol. I’m not bashing Sony, this would just explain their weird behavior and treatment in those instances. It’s just an face value observation, it didn’t need to be explained this way but you’re welcome.

Securing silent hill would be worth the trouble. I’d do it too. It makes sense. That’s all I was saying. This is good news that Konami is cutting the lock on their proprieties. I was not trying to ruin your vibe and troll you. That’s why I said relax.

[Tacoboto]

You're not making any point. You threw out "rape" with zero purpose as if saying a trigger word is somehow you proving your point?

Sony didn't make anything an exclusive and as we now know Sony happily accepted a $10-25k check for that PS Blog post you're basing all of your opinions on.

[sourOG]

I did and am making a point. Just because you don’t like the point doesn’t make it any less of a point. The fact that it upsets y’all says more about you than me.

“Show me on the doll where they touched you” is a rape joke. I’m saying there is no need for all that. Or this defensiveness.

[plmkoh]

Good idea some of the most authentic remakes/retro-sequels have come from external partiers. WayForward, Mercury Steam, Grin (now defunct) come to mind.

[MrChow666]

WayForward would be a perfect fit for classic Konami games
It's a shame the way konami are handling their legacy franchises

[rokos]

This looks like the first step for them to start outsourcing their franchises

[Good-Smurf]

After that e football rush job disaster they only have e baseball (Pawapuro, MLB Power Pros dev) left and potentially ruin it and to ruin that would be suicidal since its the only decent series they have left only to be already butchered by changed its name.
It suggests that they gone all in with microtransactions in these games even the popular household name would have to suffer for such soulless trademark like "e baseball"
Anyway I don't feel particularly confident with their new indie contest it only highlights that they have to cut losses somewhere by having to go lower budget on indie devs instead of fund what's left of their internal studios.

[BrainSyphoned]

I'll stick to indie games inspired by the past vs paying a premium for a distant memory.

[spwittbold]

konami sucks ballz