PES 2017 ‘enough indication’ that Konami is still interested in AAA game development

Konami has been in the news a lot the past one and a half year, and generally not in a good way. A lot of talent has left the company and its new focus seems to be mainly in the realm of mobile gaming and pachinko machines. Meanwhile, the franchises Konami was once known for – Castlevania, Silent Hill, Metal Gear – have uncertain futures. The company only had one game to show at E3 2016: Pro Evolution Soccer 2017. Website GamingBolt decided to ask Steve Merrett, who works for Voltage PR, the firm that handles Konami’s PR in the United Kingdom, wether the company is still interested in AAA development.

“Well, PES 2017 is coming,” Merrett told GamingBolt. “If that’s not enough indication that Konami is still interested in the market, then I don’t know what is.”

GamingBolt followed up the question by asking if Konami will be developing a new title in the Metal Gear series, but Merrett wouldn’t answer this, and instead brought up the capabilities of the FOX Engine.

“FOX engine is a constantly evolving beast,” he said. “It’s one where it’s been adapted perfectly for PES now. So what it allows us to do is, it’s just giving us ever more accuracy in terms of it handles the animation, and the faces, and stuff like that. It does it all in real time. So it means that we can focus on the animation and the gameplay. Making sure everything is smooth and the FOX engine handles everything else. One of the reasons why PES is so fast is because of that engine.”

But, who knows, maybe Konami will make an announcement in the future that takes everyone by surprise. Maybe they are really planning to create an ambitious new Metal Gear game. It’s just hard to get excited when all we are getting lately are PES and pachislot machines.

Source: GamingBolt