Christian Guthrie

Communications and New Media Major

Video game publisher Konami has seen a lot of controversy over the past few years. With leaks about harsh employee treatment, disallowing developers to claim prestigious awards due to legal constraints, Konami has still come out in the positive financially. So how does a company surrounded by negative press turn a profit? The answer is not only chilling, it boarders on immoral.

Most of Konami’s profits have been thanks to the recently released Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (developed by Kojima Productions). Over the course of the title’s development back in 2012, things were mostly closed doors. It wasn’t until a year later that all eyes were drawn to the studio and its inner workings.

It all began with reports claiming that not only had Kojima Productions disbanded from Konami, their studio was wiped clean and their internal email was shut down, making them unable to communicate. Around the same time, developer Hideo Kojima was supposedly leaving the company as soon as the game shipped. There were constant rumors suggesting that Metal Gear Solid V was an extremely high cost production (Website Nikkei reported a development cost of around $80 million) which comes into conflict with Konami’s current business model of low cost with high returns.

Despite shutting down Kojima Productions (even going so far as to remove the studio’s logo from the game’s cover) Metal Gear Solid V was a roaring success. With over five million units sold, Konami saw a net income of $60 million, an improvement from last years $43 million.

There are multiple reasonings behind a 30% jump in net income. First off, Konami still holds property rights to beloved series like Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Pro Evolution Soccer, and Castlevania. While the creative visionary responsible for Metal Gear may be gone, it doesn’t mean that the franchise won’t be worked on in the future.

Strangely enough, Konami also has a large amount of pachinko machines (as well as mobile games) in Japan which continue to generate a steady income of money for the company. While traditional big budget games are still a much wanted product, the cost can be high. A cost that Konami may feel isn’t worth it. After all, When you have a generous amount of profits rolling in from other low cost endeavors, why bother taking a risk on a big budget title that could potentially result in a loss?

Whether you agree with the company’s business practices is irrelevant. The whole controversy behind the publishing giant has shed light on a harsh reality of any industry. At the end of the day, morals are not what keep businesses afloat, it’s cold hard cash.