Konami
Konami Group Corporation, commonly known as Konami, is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. It has casinos around the world, and operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan.
The company originated in 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, by Kagemasa Kōzuki, who remains the company's chairman. On top of their [|flagship development subsidiary], Konami also owns Bemani, known for Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania, as well as the assets of former game developer Hudson Soft, known for Bomberman, Adventure Island, Bonk, Bloody Roar, and Star Soldier. Konami is the twentieth-largest game company in the world by revenue. Konami also publishes the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, one of the best-selling TCGs in history. Konami's video game franchises include Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Power Pros, Castlevania, Contra, Frogger, Tokimeki Memorial, Gradius, Parodius, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Suikoden, and eFootball.
History
The company was founded on 21 March 1969 and was officially incorporated under the name Konami Industry Co., Ltd. on 19 March 1973. The company's founder and chairman, Kagemasa Kōzuki, ran a jukebox rental and repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka, before transforming the business into a manufacturer of amusement machines for video arcades. The name Konami is a portmanteau of the names of three founding members: Kagemasa Kōzuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, and Tatsuo Miyasako. Their first coin-operated video game was released in 1978, and they began exporting products to the United States the following year.Konami began to achieve success with arcade games in the early 1980s, starting with Scramble, followed by hits such as Frogger, Super Cobra, Time Pilot, Roc'n Rope, Track & Field, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu. Many of their early games were licensed to other companies for US release, including Centuri, Stern Electronics, Sega, and Gremlin Industries. They established their U.S. subsidiary, Konami Inc., in November 1982; initially based in Torrance, California, they would later move to Buffalo Grove, Illinois, in 1984 following their acquisition of arcade distributor Interlogic, Inc., with Interlogic founder and president Ben Harel serving as president of Konami Inc. It was during this period that Konami began expanding their video game business into the home consumer market following a brief stint releasing video games for the Atari 2600 in 1982 for the U.S. market. The company released numerous games for the MSX home computer standard in 1983, followed by the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. Numerous Konami franchises were established during this period on both platforms, as well as the arcades, such as Gradius, Castlevania, TwinBee, Ganbare Goemon, Contra, and Metal Gear, in addition to success with hit licensed games such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Due to the success of their arcade and NES games, Konami's earnings grew from $10 million in 1987 to $300 million in 1991.
In June 1991, Konami's legal name was changed to Konami Co., Ltd. and their headquarters were relocated to Minato, Tokyo, in April 1993. The company started supporting the 16-bit video game consoles during this period, starting with the Super NES in 1990, followed by the PC Engine in 1991, and the Sega Genesis in 1992.
1991 was also the year when Konami introduced a new approach to combat piracy in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. If the game detected that it was an unauthorized copy, it subtly altered gameplay mechanics. The player’s attack damage was reduced, while enemy attacks became significantly stronger. Additionally, the game's final boss, Shredder, was made invincible, rendering the game impossible to complete. This anti-piracy measure served as a deterrent to unauthorized copies by making the game frustratingly difficult for those using pirated versions.
After the launch of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1994, Konami became a business divisional organization with the formation of various Konami Computer Entertainment subsidiaries, starting with KCE Tokyo and KCE Osaka in April 1995, followed by KCE Japan in April 1996. Each KCE subsidiary created different intellectual properties such as KCE Tokyo's Silent Hill series and KCE Japan's Metal Gear Solid series. In 1997, Konami started producing rhythm games for arcades under the Bemani brand and branched off into the collectible card game business with the launch of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. Konami was not only known for its card games, it also imported into the Pachinko business. Pachinko played a huge role in Konami's success as it started to popularize new never before seen characters.
In July 2000, the company's legal English name was changed to Konami Corporation, but the Japanese legal name remained the same. As the company transitioned into developing video games for the sixth-generation consoles, they branched out into the health and fitness business acquiring People Co., Ltd and Daiei Olympic Sports Club, Inc. which became Konami subsidiaries. In August 2001, the company invested in another video game publisher, Hudson Soft, which became a consolidated subsidiary after Konami accepted new third-party shares issued by them. In January 2003, Avranches Automatique began handling sales of Konami's arcade games in Europe outside the U.K. and Ireland. On February 7, 2003, Betson Enterprises took over distribution and service for Konami's arcade games in the U.S. Some time later, PMT Sales started handling Konami arcade game sales in the U.K. and Ireland. In March 2006, Konami merged all their video game development divisions into a new subsidiary known as Konami Digital Entertainment Co., as the parent company became a pure holding company. Their headquarters were relocated to Minato, Tokyo, in 2007. On January 20, 2009, Electrocoin became the exclusive distributor and after-sale agent of Konami's arcade games in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Africa.
The absorption of Hudson Soft in 2012 resulted in the addition of several other franchises including: Adventure Island, Bonk, Bloody Roar, Bomberman, Far East of Eden, and Star Soldier.
In April 2015, Konami delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange following the dissolution of their Kojima Productions subsidiary. In a translated interview with Nikkei Trendy Net published in the following month, the newly appointed president of Konami's gaming 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." The trade name of the company was changed from Konami Corporation to Konami Holdings Corporation during the same month. Konami consolidated its productions teams established in 2004 into their headquarters, including Pawapuro Production, BEMANI Production, Virtual Kiss Production, Loveplus Production, Kojima Productions and others, that year.
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 launch title Super Bomberman R.
In early 2020, Konami moved their headquarters to the Ginza district of Tokyo, which includes a facility for holding esports events as well as a school for esports players.。
Konami announced a major restructuring of Konami Digital Entertainment on 25 January 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 later time. Konami affirmed this would not affect their commitment to video games and was only an internal restructuring. On 1 July 2022 Konami changed their corporate name again from Konami Holdings Corporation to Konami Group Corporation.
In April 2023, Konami announced that it has opened a new studio in Osaka, Japan. The new offices, located in the Umeda Sky Building south building, will support the developer in its efforts both grow and endure over the coming decades. Konami suggested that the new building would be a core entity in the studio's current and future projects, noting that it hopes Konami Osaka will encourage "sustainable growth" over the next 50 years.
In February 2024, Konami Digital Entertainment announced the establishment of its own anime studio called Konami Animation. The studio will invest the CG technology and know-how it fostered from game development into animation, and it plans not only to work on Konami's own intellectual properties but in other properties as well. Its first work was a PV for Yu-Gi-Oh! 25th anniversary.
In May 2025, Konami announced that it will transfer a portion of its amusement machine development business from Konami Amusement to a new company called Konami Arcade Games. Konami Amusement and Arcade Games will focus on the pachinko and arcade games businesses.
In November 2025, following the successful releases of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill f, Konami signed a strategic alliance and cooperation with CyberAgent and Electronic Arts focused on video game business, as well as the signing of the JOC/JPC, NPB, and J-League became official partners.