
In a year of strong performances from Japanese game publishers, one company performed exceedingly well: Konami.

So let’s take a closer look at the company, its stellar 2024, and its outlook for the year to come.
While most readers will be familiar with Konami for its Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Silent Hill franchises, Konami Group Corporation is actually composed of four business segments: digital entertainment (video games), amusement (pachislots, coin pushers, claw games, etc.), gaming and systems (casino gaming), and sports (fitness clubs and sporting facilities).
Though each is interesting in its own right, the digital entertainment segment represents more than 70% of Konami’s total revenue (as of H1 ‘25, April to September ‘24 on Konami’s fiscal calendar) and as such, will be the focus of our analysis.
As of Konami’s last earnings presentation (the aforementioned H1 ‘25), digital entertainment brought in ¥131.6B in revenue (around $835M) and ¥46.7B in profit (about $296M), representing year-over-year increases of 28.9% and 50.3%, respectively. This continues a few years of growth in both profits and operating profit margins for the digital entertainment segment.

At the same time, Konami has benefited from the overall strength of the Japanese market: The benchmark Topix index, of which Konami is a member, rose 15% in 2024. It’s worth noting, however, the yen also slid 10% against the dollar.
Konami has primarily attributed these results to the performance of its eFootball franchise. Formerly known as Pro Evolution Soccer, eFootball is Konami’s cross-platform, free-to-play answer to EA Sports FC. Available on PC, console, and mobile, eFootball has amassed more than 750M downloads worldwide to date, with its latest seasonal release going live just before the close of the H1 ‘25 reporting period. A recent collaboration with legendary anime "Captain Tsubasa" should also help to boost results as Konami closes out its fiscal year.
Though the franchise still pales in comparison to EA Sports FC (less revenue, lower player counts, fewer licensing rights, etc.), the business has steadily grown in recent years. The mobile versions of eFootball regularly pull in an estimated $25M-$30M in revenue per month, according to Sensor Tower, making it Konami’s most successful mobile product of 2024 by far at approximately $307M in annual revenue. Other mobile products of note include Professional Baseball Spirits (about $170.6M in annual revenue) and card game Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (around $50.7M).

Not captured in that earnings report, but likely to be a meaningful driver in the Q3 ‘25 report expected later this month, will be the Silent Hill 2 remake. Developed by Polish outfit Bloober Team and released on October 8th, 2024, for PC and PS5, the reimagining sold more than a million copies in its first week alone, making it the franchise’s fastest selling entry to date.

Another likely contributor to Konami’s already-strong FY25 momentum will be the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, a remake of 2004’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Due out this year — perhaps as soon as February, if recent rumors are to be believed — this will be the first major release in the franchise since 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
With nearly a decade having passed since gamers last got their hands on a new Metal Gear game, it makes sense Konami might be concerned that “a lot of the newer, younger generation of gamers aren’t familiar with the Metal Gear series anymore,” series producer Noriaki Okamura said recently.
Indeed, like many of its peers in Japanese game publishing, Konami’s most beloved franchises are among the oldest in all of gaming. This has naturally led to a number of remakes ("Castlevania", Contra, Metal Gear), transmedia spin-offs (multiple Castlevania runs on Netflix, the Silent Hill MILE with Genvid), and mobile ports (Castlevania) that have kept the company’s pipeline full while larger AAA bets incubate. Metal Gear is just the latest to receive this treatment, and assuming all goes well with Metal Gear Solid Δ, we should expect to see more of Snake in the future.

In terms of big bets, however, little has been said publicly.
We know that two new Silent Hill titles are in the works: Silent Hill f, the series’ eighth mainline installment, and spin-off game Silent Hill: Townfall (which is set to be co-published with embattled outfit Annapurna Interactive). We also know that a Silent Hill 2 movie is in the works, titled "Return to Silent Hill".
As for Metal Gear, the franchise is somewhat in limbo as 2015’s The Phantom Pain was the last title to be released with series creator Hideo Kojima. Konami will no doubt soldier on with new releases, but no new mainline entries have been revealed as yet.
Beyond these two beloved franchises, Konami has given fans little to look forward to beyond nostalgic glances back at the past. There’s the forthcoming remake of JRPG Suikoden I and II, and Bomberman recently made an appearance in Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing 2. Yu-Gi-Oh! has a revival collection titled Early Days on the way, too, alongside a new anime. There is also the potential for some news surrounding the 25th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh! in February, though at the moment the event seems focused on esports and anime.
Beyond the evergreen sports titles (eFootball and eBaseball) Konami’s cupboard is starting to look a little bare. Perhaps this fiscal year’s incredible performance will allow the company to stockpile cash in advance of difficult years to come.
The company may have unannounced projects it expects will eventually deliver outsized returns, but outside of new Metal Gear, Silent Hill, or Castlevania games, what form could those realistically take? Do gamers today care about Yu-Gi-Oh!, Contra or Bomberman? We all know how challenging the market is for new IPs, but, inevitably, Konami will need to establish one eventually.
Nostalgia may be king at Konami, and, yes, the company has done exceptionally well at leveraging its back catalog. Eventually, though, the well will run dry. Konami should consider making some bets in other genres — not unlike what its sports simulation competitor EA has done with Apex Legends or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Konami may not have an answer to EA’s Respawn among its internal studios to churn out new hits — it prefers working with third-party developers like Bloober Team, NeoBards, and No Code — but that doesn’t mean it can’t also experiment with fresh IP or new takes on dormant IPs. With a banner year coming to a conclusion, this may be the perfect time for Konami to take a big swing.
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