Konami has a deep library of gaming classics such as Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and Silent Hill, just to name a few. The publisher has remastered some of that back catalog but that output has been fairly slow. But more Konami remasters could be on the way if fans ask for them.
Speaking with IGN during a stage demo E3 2018, Konami Brand Manager Benjamin Kinney stated the company’s willingness to go back and touch up some old classics. This came during a demo of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Mars, which is the remaster for the second Zone of the Enders game coming to the PS4 (with PSVR support) and PC in September.
“Are there options? Of course there are in the future,” said Kinney during the interview. “We like to listen to fans and we know what they’re interested in. As long as they are telling us what they want, we’re gonna keep listening.”
This is not an official declaration that there will be more Konami remasters coming out soon. It’s just an acknowledgement that the company is listening to players. When prompted if the first Zone of the Enders would also get remastered, Kinney reiterated his stance in a more concise way.
“Eventually, if you’re loud enough and you speak with one voice, anything is possible,” he said.
Konami has gone back and re-released some of their old games on the last generation of consoles, but they haven’t done the same for the PS4 and Xbox One. In fact, the publisher has not much released much at all on consoles or PC in the past few years. Metal Gear Survive was one of their few big titles and it failed to sell many copies after it came out in February 2018.
There were only three titles in their E3 booth this year: PES 2018, Hyper Sports R, and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Mars. Despite the small showing, that last title, along with player feedback, could be the catalyst the company needed to dive back into game development. Konami could be listening to fans and finally focusing their efforts on making (or remaking) games. It just might need to start earning back some goodwill first.
