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Konami: MGS can continue without Kojima, Konami will continue to make the best games around

At EGX 2015 in Birmingham (UK), website Game On Daily had a chance to interview Graham Day, UK Community Manager for Konami, and they talked about the game’s success as well as Konami’s future plans in regards to the franchise and the industry as a whole (considering the recent rumors about Konami leaving the console market behind).

Game-On-Daily-Interview-Graham-Day

“It’s been a fantastic month for Konami. I mean, we’ve just had, like you mentioned, Metal Gear Solid V at the start of the month, followed shortly after by Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, so yeah, it’s a phenomenal time to be a community manager right now.”

“The team themselves, without trying to sound too egotistical, they knew the project was such a big project, such a phenomenal game. […] Taking everything from the start of Metal Gear, throughout the 20 year history, and putting it into such a powerful engine, we knew that we had something strong there.”

The interviewer asked if it wasn’t also kind of somber after the great reviews the game has received, that Kojima will be leaving the company. It resulted in the following conversation between the interviewer and Graham Day.

“We’ve said in the past previously that obviously the Metal Gear brand will continue, so…”
– “Can it continue without Kojima, the master behind it all?”
“Yeah, of course it can. Metal Gear is about the story, it’s about the characters, and I think… yeah -”
– “It’s his baby though. That’s a lot of responsibility, isn’t that kind of daunting, on the back of his departure?”
“Look at things like Metal Gear Rising, I mean that was an example of the title being taken and taken in a new direction by separate teams, with obviously hands-in from other parties. And that was in itself a very, very good game as well and that was obviously led by a completely different team.”

The interviewer also asked about the recent reports of Konami moving away from consoles. Graham Day denied these rumors.

“Don’t believe everything you read in the press.”
– “You’re still committed to console gaming?”
“Yeah, that’s never changed. Things have been taken out of context, but that’s never changed.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to slam mobile gaming. Mobile gaming has a future, and that has a potential. But just because mobile gaming is being embraced, doesn’t mean everything else has to quit. Konami has a history of making the best games around, and that is something that will continue. That won’t change anything going forward. So yeah, people should believe in Konami. And if I was to use a tagline, PES 2016’s tagline is ‘love the past, play the future’, and that is there for a reason. The future isn’t ending now, the future has a long, long way.”

In conclusion, Graham said: “[MGSV and PES2016] show full well that we know exactly what we’re doing.”

To watch the entire interview, visit website Game On Daily.

Source: Game On Daily

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