Konami has celebrated its “50th Establishment Anniversary” by opening a brand-new development studio in Osaka, Japan.
The new KONAMI Osaka Studio officially opened its doors on March 27th, 2023 in the Osaka Umeda Twin Towers South complex, where it plans to “continue sustainable growth in the next 50 years” according to a press release.
The new studio comes with the concept of “Creators First” and is said to feature a well-developed environment where creators can demonstrate their full potential, equipped with state-of-the-art motion capture equipment and sound studios. Starting in March, the company reports it has also substantially raised its employees’ base salaries.
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Konami also revealed that it’s working on opening Konami Creative Front Tokyo Bay, a next-generation R&D centre in Tokyo which is scheduled for completion in 2025. The company attributes all of these updates to a goal to strengthen its development capabilities and capitalise on what it says in an “expanding entertainment field.”
So far, the most we know about Konami’s future entertainment plans comes via multiple Silent Hill projects, most of which are in development at external studios like Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill: Townfall from No Code, the “interactive experience” from Bad Robot, Silent Hill: Ascension and Silent Hill F from NeoBards Entertainment in Hong Kong.
Silent Hill 2 is being developed as a PS5 and PC exclusive, running on Unreal Engine 5 and taking advantage of PS5-specific features such as 3D Audio and DualSense haptic feedback. It’ll feature an over-the-shoulder camera, reworked combat and set pieces, and reportedly involves contributions from some of the original talent including monster designer Masahiro Ito as well as composer Akira Yamaoka.
Bloober’s president Piotr Babieno recently said that, “Silent Hill 2 is technically ready. It does not mean that the game is finished, but we are close. However, the issue of the release schedule lies with our partners. What the promotion will look like and when the title will debut is not directly in our hands.”
