japanese entertainment and gambling company

Konami Holdings Corporation [ nota bene 1 ] [ niobium 2 ] is a japanese entertainment conglomerate and video game company. In addition to being a television game developer and publisher, it besides produces and distributes trade cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos around the world and operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan. Konami ‘s video recording game franchises include Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Contra, Frogger, Tokimeki Memorial, Parodius, Gradius, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Suikoden, and Pro Evolution Soccer. additionally, Konami owns Bemani, known for Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania, ampere well as the assets of erstwhile plot developer Hudson Soft, known for Bomberman, Adventure Island, Bonk, and Star Soldier. Konami is the nineteenth-largest game company in the world by gross. [ 7 ] Konami besides publishes the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game.

The company originated in 1969 as a jukebox rental and compensate business in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, by Kagemasa Kōzuki, who remains the company ‘s chair. The name Konami is a portmanteau of the names of three founding members : Kagemasa Ko zuki, Yoshinobu Na kama, and Tatsuo Mi yasako. [ 8 ] Konami is headquartered in Tokyo. In the United States, Konami manages its video recording game business from Aviation Blvd, California and its casino gaming commercial enterprise from Paradise, Nevada. Its australian bet on operations are in Sydney. As of March 2019, it owns 22 consolidate subsidiaries around the world. [ 3 ]

history [edit ]

The company was founded on March 21, 1969 and was officially incorporated under the appoint Konami Industry Co., Ltd. ( コナミ工業株式会社, Konami Kōgyō Kabushiki Gaisha ) on March 19, 1973. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] The ship’s company ‘s founder and president, Kagemasa Kōzuki ( besides known as Kaz Kozuki ), [ 12 ] ran a jukebox rental and animate business in Toyonaka, Osaka before transforming the business into a manufacturer of amusement machines for video recording arcades. Their first coin-operated television game was released in 1978, and they began exporting products to the United States the take after year. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Konami began to achieve success with shoot arcade games in the early 1980s, starting with Scramble ( 1981 ), followed by hits such as Frogger ( 1981 ), Super Cobra ( 1981 ), Time Pilot ( 1982 ), Roc’n Rope ( 1983 ), Track & Field ( 1983 ) and Yie Ar Kung-Fu ( 1985 ). [ 12 ] Many of their early games were licensed to other companies for stateside let go of, including stern Electronics, Sega and Gremlin Industries. They finally established their U.S. subsidiary company, Konami of America, Inc. in 1982. It was during this period that Konami began expanding their video game business into the home consumer market following a brief scrimp releasing video recording games for the Atari 2600 in 1982 for the U.S. market. [ 15 ] The company released numerous games for the MSX base calculator standard in 1983, followed by the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] Numerous Konami franchises were established during this period on both platforms, a well as the arcades, such as Gradius, Castlevania, Twin Bee, Ganbare Goemon, Contra, and Metal Gear, in addition to success with hit licensed games such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ( TMNT ). due to the achiever of their arcade and NES games, Konami ‘s earnings grew from $ 10 million in 1987 to $ 300 million in 1991. [ 18 ] The first TMNT arcade game ( 1989 ) was Konami ‘s highest-grossing arcade game. [ 19 ] In June 1991, Konami ‘s legal mention was changed to Konami Co., Ltd. ( コナミ株式会社, Konami Kabushiki Gaisha ) and their headquarters were relocated to Minato, Tokyo in April 1993. [ 13 ] The company started supporting the 16-bit video recording game consoles during this period, starting with the Super NES in 1990, followed by the personal computer Engine in 1991 and the Sega Genesis in 1992. After the plunge of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1994, Konami became a commercial enterprise divisional organization with the constitution of assorted Konami Computer Entertainment ( KCE ) subsidiaries, starting with KCE Tokyo and KCE Osaka ( belated known as KCE Studios ) in April 1995, followed by KCE Japan ( late known as Kojima Productions ) in April 1996. Each KCE auxiliary created different cerebral properties such as KCE Tokyo ‘s Silent Hill series and KCE Japan ‘s Metal Gear Solid series ( a revival of the Metal Gear series on MSX ). In 1997, Konami started producing cycle games for arcades under the Bemani brand and branched off into the collectible calling card game business with the launch of the Yu-Gi-Oh ! Trading Card Game. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] In July 2000, the company ‘s legal English name was changed to Konami Corporation, but the japanese legal name remained the lapp. As the caller transitioned into developing video recording games for the sixth-generation consoles, they branched out into the health and fitness clientele with the acquisitions of People Co., Ltd and Daiei Olympic Sports Club, Inc., which became Konami subsidiaries. In August 2001, the party invested in another television game publisher, Hudson Soft, which became a consolidate subordinate after Konami accepted fresh third-party shares issued by them. In March 2006, Konami merged all their television game development divisions into a fresh subordinate known as Konami Digital Entertainment Co. ( KDE ), as the parent company became a pure holding company. Their headquarters were relocated to Minato, Tokyo, in 2007. [ 13 ] The concentration of Hudson Soft in 2012 resulted in the addition of respective early franchises including : Adventure Island, Bonk, Bloody Roar, Bomberman, Far East of Eden and Star Soldier. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] In April 2015, Konami delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange following the profligacy of their Kojima Productions auxiliary. [ 24 ] In a translate interview with Nikkei Trendy Net published in the following calendar month, the newly appointed president of the united states of Konami ‘s bet on division, Konami Digital Entertainment, Hideki Hayakawa, announced that Konami would shift their focus towards mobile gaming for a while, claiming that “ mobile is where the future of gaming lies. ” [ 25 ] The deal name of the company was changed from Konami Corporation to Konami Holdings Corporation during the lapp calendar month. [ 26 ] In 2017, Konami announced that they would be reviving some of the company ‘s other well-known video game titles following the success of their Nintendo Switch plunge entitle Super Bomberman R. [ 27 ] In early 2020, Konami moved their headquarters to the Ginza zone of Tokyo, which includes a facility for holding esports events american samoa well as a school for esports players. [ 28 ]
Konami Digital Entertainment ‘s north american headquarters in Hawthorne, California Konami announced a major restructure of Konami Digital Entertainment on January 25, 2021, which including the dissolution of its Product Divisions 1, 2, and 3 to be reconsolidated into a new structure to be announced at a subsequently time. Konami affirmed this would not affect their committedness to video games and was entirely an inner restructure. [ 29 ]

bodied structure [edit ]

Japan [edit ]

Konami Digital Entertainment booth at Taipei Game Show 2017 Konami Sports Club in Toyohashi. Konami Sports & Life operates seaworthiness clubs across Japan .

  • Konami Holdings Corporation[30][31]
  • Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
  • Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd.
  • Konami Amusement Co., Ltd.
  • Konami Real Estate, Inc.
  • KPE, Inc.
  • Konami Manufacturing and Service, Inc.
  • Konami Facility Service, Inc.
  • KME Co., Ltd.
  • Takasago Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
  • Digital Golf, Inc.: On January 20, 2011, Konami Corporation announced the acquisition of Digital Golf via share exchange. Digital Golf became a wholly owned subsidiary of Konami. The exchange became effective on March 1, 2011.[32]
  • Internet Revolution, Inc.
  • Biz Share Corporation
  • Combi Wellness Corporation
  • The Club At Yebisu Garden Co., Ltd.

Australia [edit ]

  • Konami Australia Pty Ltd (established in 1996)

America [edit ]

  • Konami Corporation of America: Current U.S.-based holding company.
  • Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.: former American holding company, formerly Konami of America Inc., Konami Corporation of America. On October 13, 2003, Konami Corporation of Redwood City, California announced it was expanding its operations to El Segundo, California, under the new name of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. The Redwood City operations have since been consolidated to El Segundo in 2007.[33]
    • Konami Gaming, Inc. in Paradise, Nevada.
    • Konami Cross Media NY

Europe [edit ]

  • Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.: European-based holding company.
  • Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH: former holding company Europe, formerly Konami Limited, Konami Corporation of Europe B.V. On March 31, 2003, Konami of Europe announced it would be renamed as Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH at the start of Konami’s new financial year, on April 1, 2003.[34]

asia [edit ]

  • Konami Digital Entertainment Limited (科樂美數碼娛樂有限公司): Established in September 1994 as Konami (Hong Kong) Limited. Korea and Singapore divisions were established in October 2000. In June 2001, the company changed name to Konami Marketing (Asia) Ltd. (科樂美行銷(亞洲)有限公司). In March 2006, the company was renamed Konami Digital Entertainment Limited.[35][36]
  • Konami Software Shanghai, Inc. (科乐美软件（上海）有限公司): Established in June 2000.[37]
  • Konami Digital Entertainment Co. (주식회사 코나미 디지털 엔터테인먼트): South Korea-based game producer and distributor, originally established as the Korea branch of Konami Digital Entertainment Limited. On May 1, 2008, it became a separate company, and inherited the existing operations of the former Korea branch in June 2008.[38]

On November 7, 2005, Konami Corporation announced restructuring Konami Corporation into a holding company, by moving its japanese Digital Entertainment Business segment under Konami Corporation. The Digital Entertainment Business became Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. The newly established Konami Corporation was expected to begin operation on March 31, 2006. [ 39 ]

Konami Digital Entertainment [edit ]

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. ( 株式会社コナミデジタルエンタテインメント, Kabushiki-gaisha Konami Dejitaru Entateinmento ) is Konami ‘s japanese video crippled development and publishing division founded on March 31, 2006. [ 40 ] It absorbed Hudson Soft. Before Konami Corporation had formally changed to a holding caller in 2006, assorted forms of Konami Digital Entertainment companies had been established either as holding caller or publisher. The last of the company, the Japan-based Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd., was split from Konami Corporation during the holding company restructure work. [ 41 ]

Subsidiaries [edit ]

  • Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.: Japanese division, established on March 31, 2003.
  • Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.: North American division, established on October 13, 2003.
  • Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH: European division, established on April 1, 2003.
  • Konami Digital Entertainment Limited: Hong Kong division. Established in September 1994 as Konami (Hong Kong) Limited. In March 2006, it was renamed to Konami Digital Entertainment Limited.
  • KME Co., Ltd (KME Corporation): music division established on October 1, 2010.[42]

erstwhile subsidiaries [edit ]

Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya, Inc. ( KCEN ), founded on October 1, 1996, [ 43 ] was dissolved along with Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, Inc. ( KCEK ) in December 2002. [ 44 ] On December 16, 2004, Konami Corporation announced Konami Online, Inc., Konami Computer Entertainment Studios, Inc., Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc., Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Inc. would merge into Konami Corporation, effective on March 1, 2005. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] On February 22, 2005, Konami Corporation announced Konami Media Entertainment, Inc. would merge into Konami Corporation, effective on March 1, 2005. [ 47 ] On March 11, 2005, Konami Corporation announced Konami Traumer, Inc would be merged back into Konami Corporation, effective on June 1, 2005. [ 48 ] On January 5, 2006, Konami Corporation announced the amalgamation of Konami Sports Corporation merged with its rear caller, Konami Sports Life Corporation. The parent would be dissolved under the amalgamation, and Konami Sports would become the wholly owned subordinate of Konami Corporation after share exchange between KC and KS. After the contribution exchange, KS would be renamed Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd. [ 49 ] On February 28, 2006, Konami Sports Corporation merged with its parent caller, Konami Sports Life Corporation, and became Konami Sports Corporation. [ 50 ]

On September 21, 2010, Konami Corporation announced it has signed an agreement to acquire with Abilit Corporation via share exchange. After the transaction, Abilit Corporation became a wholly own subordinate of Konami Corporation, effective January 1, 2011. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] On January 1, 2011, Abilit Corporation was renamed to Takasago Electric Industry Co., Ltd. [ 53 ] As function of the acquisition, Biz Share Corporation besides became a auxiliary of Konami Corporation .

Megacyber Corporation [edit ]

On October 2, 2006, Konami Corporation announced it had completed the acquisition of mobile telephone content developer Megacyber Corporation. [ 54 ] On February 6, 2007, Konami Corporation announced Megacyber Corporation to be merged into Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd., with Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. being the surviving company, effective on April 1, 2007. [ 55 ]

Video games [edit ]

major titles by Konami include the natural process Castlevania serial, the survival horror Silent Hill series, the action shooter Contra series, the platform gamble Ganbare Goemon series, the platform venture Rocket Knight Adventures series, the stealth action Metal Gear series, the role-playing Suikoden series, the Bemani rhythm game series ( which includes Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania IIDX, GuitarFreaks, DrumMania, and Pop’n Music, among others ), Dancing with the Stars, the dating model Tokimeki Memorial series, and football simulation Pro Evolution Soccer. [ 56 ] Konami produced its shoot ’em up arcade games such as Gradius, Life Force, Time Pilot, Gyruss, Parodius, Axelay, and TwinBee. Konami ‘s games based on cartoon licenses, particularly the Batman: The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs series, but other american productions like The Simpsons, Bucky O’Hare, G.I. Joe, X-Men and The Goonies and french amusing Asterix all have seen let go of at some point in the past by Konami either on arcades and/or video game consoles. Some cinematically styled franchises from Konami are Silent Hill survival horror franchise, and the Metal Gear serial. Another successful franchise is Winning Eleven, the spiritual sequel to International Superstar Soccer. In Japan, it is known for the popular Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū series baseball series and the Zone of the Enders games. The caller has picked up Saw from Brash Entertainment when the game ‘s production had been suspended due to fiscal issues. [ 57 ] Konami is known for its password, the Konami Code, which traditionally gives many power-ups in its games .

Film production [edit ]

In 2006, Konami started producing films based on their franchises. Konami produced the Silent Hill film ( released in 2006 ) and announced that they will produce a Metal Gear Solid film. [ 58 ]

personal calculation [edit ]

In 2020, Konami launched a personal computer gaming brand in Japan known as Arespear, which includes desktop computers, keyboards, and headsets ( the last of which designed in collaboration with Konami ‘s Bemani musicians ). [ 59 ] [ 60 ] [ 61 ]

Controversies [edit ]

Silent Hills and reduce video game development [edit ]

Silent Hills, set to be the one-ninth episode of the Silent Hill franchise, was abruptly cancelled in April 2015 without explanation despite the critical applaud and success of P.T., a playable teaser. [ 62 ] [ 63 ] Hours after the announcement, Konami delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange. [ 24 ] Game co-director and writer Guillermo del Toro publicly criticized the cancellation as not making any sense and questioned what he described as a “ scorch ground ” approach to removing the trailer. Due to the experience, del Toro stated that he would never work on another video recording game. [ 64 ] [ 65 ] Konami Digital Entertainment CEO, Hideki Hayakawa, announced that – with few exceptions – Konami would stop making cabinet games and alternatively focus on the mobile bet on platform, a decision that was heavily criticized by the video recording gaming community. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] [ 68 ] [ 69 ] [ 70 ] however, Konami UK ‘s community coach, Graham Day, has denied the claims that it was exiting the cabinet industry. [ 71 ]

Kojima Productions [edit ]

On March 3, 2015, Konami announced they would be shifting focus away from person studios, notably Kojima Productions. Internal sources claimed the restructure was due to a brush between Hideo Kojima and Konami. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] References to Kojima were soon stripped from marketing material, and Kojima ‘s position as an executive vice president of the united states of Konami Digital Entertainment was removed from the party ‘s official list of executives. [ 74 ] belated that year, Konami ‘s legal department barred Kojima from accepting the award for Best Action-Adventure for his knead on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain at The Game Awards 2015. When announced during the event, the consultation boo in disapproval of Konami ‘s actions. Host Geoff Keighley expressed his disappointment in Konami ‘s actions. After actor Kiefer Sutherland accepted the award in Kojima ‘s stead, a choir american ginseng “ Quiet ‘s theme ” from The Phantom Pain as a tribute to the absent Kojima. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] [ 77 ] [ 78 ] Kojima left Konami several days afterwards, re-opening Kojima Productions as an independent company .

treatment of employees and ex-employees [edit ]

In August 2015, The Nikkei criticized Konami for its unethical treatment of employees. [ 79 ] [ 80 ] [ 81 ] In June 2017, The Nikkei far reported on Konami ‘s continued clashes with Kojima Productions, preventing the studio ‘s application for health policy, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as Konami ‘s actions in making it unmanageable for early employees to get future jobs ; they are notably forbidden from mentioning their work with Konami on their résumés. [ 82 ] [ 83 ] Konami besides started filing complaints against other game companies that hired ex-Konami employees, leading to an unspecified major game company warning its staff against doing sol. A erstwhile employee of Konami stated : “ If an ex- [ Konami employee ] is interviewed by the media, the party will send that person a letter through a legal representative, in some cases indicating that Konami is volition to take them to court ” ; they besides pressured an ex-employee into closing their new commercial enterprise. [ 83 ]

See besides [edit ]

  • Good-Feel, an independent video game company founded by former Konami employees
  • Treasure, another independent video game company founded by former Konami employees
  • Ultra Games, an American shell corporation and publishing label formed by Konami
  • Kojima Productions, an independent studio from Hideo Kojima with the same name of the previous Konami subsidiary

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]

Sources [edit ]