Konami will relaunch old licenses (Gradius, Goemon, Twinbee) and appeal to indie studios

Is Konami taking an interest in video games again? This is the question that we can legitimately ask since the Japanese publisher launched a contest on its social networks for independent studios so that they seize old licenses such as Gradius, Ganbare Goemon, Twinbee , Knightmare, Yie Ar Kung-Fu or Star Soldier. It is indeed through the program “Konami’s Action & Shooting Game Contest” that the Japanese firm intends to measure the interest around its old licenses which were the fortune of the publisher in the 80s and 90s. idea is to reward the studios which will have been chosen beforehand by giving them a sum of money according to the awarded prizes. Basically, the winner is promised to leave with the sum of 2 million Yen (approximately € 15,500) as well as a trophy that he can proudly display. Other prizes will be awarded (5 in total) with which will be accompanied each time an envelope of 57,300 Yen, or approximately 445 of our euros. Konami specifies that it is ready to invest up to 30 million Yen (approximately 233,000 €) to support the studio throughout the creation process, until the game is marketed.

The competition was organized in collaboration with Shueisha Game Creators Camp, which is just a project to help the creation of indie games, and no less than 80 games have been submitted. Obviously, to try to win this competition, there are several creative criteria to respect, knowing that Konami has the right of life or death on this project of course. After the rumor from VGC which claims to know that a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 is in production, alongside a reboot for the Castlevania series, everything suggests that Konami wants to seduce players again. Maybe the gyms don’t bring in as much as they used to, especially after the COVID period we went through …