Konami Dissolving All Three Production Divisions [UPDATE: But They've Still Got Games!]
Gaming company Konami announced that as of February 1, 2021, they'll be formally dissolving all three of their production divisions. After each division is dissolved, they'll be restructured. In the restructuring of their company, a whole BUNCH of major players in the company will be reassigned and instated to new positions. It's unlikely we'll see the company pushing any major title games in the very near future.*
While Konami have of the most recognizable names in gaming, they've not released any truly new titles for quite a while. As such, it comes as little surprise that they're looking to make some major changes in the way they do business. The announcement about the restructuring suggested the following: "We are dissolving the Production Divisions to respond to the rapid market that surrounds us."
Konami's FY2021 Q2 earnings report showed how expenses from COVID-19 skyrocketed while revenue fell year-over-year. Where the company reported 121.1 billion yen in FY2020 H1, H1 in FY2021 delivered $116.1 billion yen in revenue. Expenses for FY2020 H1 were approximately 100-million yen, ramping up to 4.4 billion yen in 1H FY2021.
Per Konami's earnings report, Digital Entertainment essentially saved their company from falling over the past year. Digital Entertainment in H1 FY2021 vs H1 FY2020 was up 31.8% – rising from 67 to 88.3 billion Yen.
As year-over-year change for Digital Entertainment with Konami went up 21.3 billion yen, the rest of its segments fell: Amusement, Gaming & Systems, and Sports saw major losses year-over-year. YoY change for each of these segments was 2.4-billion, 7.7-billion, and 15.9-billion yen, respectively.
*NOTE: This does not mean that Konami won't be making any new games EVER. Instead, the restructuring is just that – a moving around of roles in the company. It's not a shutting down of any game development – at least not in a way that'll be immediately evident to the public.
A comment to IGN from Konami suggested that there was some confusion earlier in the day, regarding the wording of the announcement on an earnings call. "The announcement made refers to an internal restructure, with Production Divisions being consolidated," said a Konami representative. "We have not 'shut down' our video gaming division."