Konami has recently expressed an interest in expanding its portfolio by publishing more games by Western developers. This new initiative began on June 3 with the release of Skelattack, an indie platformer developed by Californian studio Ukuza. However, Konami doesn’t just want to publish western indie games–the studio has expressed interest in innovative games “regardless of size.”
“I guess the reason we’re talking about smaller titles is because the first title we announced is Skelattack, which is obviously an indie title,” Konami senior European brand and business development manager Richard Jones told GamesIndustry.Biz. “I think one of the reasons we’re looking to those types of smaller teams is just that there’s so much creativity out there with those guys–you know, teams working on small but ambitious titles. Those guys are the ones daring to do innovative games, and I think that’s something very exciting, which we wanted to support as a publisher.”
Jones continued: “[But] I think the criteria we’re looking for really is similar across all new IP regardless of size. Maybe some of those criteria become amplified with the smaller projects. I’m thinking specifically of people coming with fresh ideas, and teams that are pushing existing genres in new ways, or coming up with something genuinely unique. There’s just so much going on in this flourishing indie scene at the moment that I think it’s only natural that we’re looking at small teams and small titles, as well as other titles.”
Though Konami has only just gone public with this push for new Western IPs, the studio has been planning this “for months,” says Jones. At the moment, Konami is specifically looking “at short and mid-term titles that need funding and publishing support” with an emphasis on games being developed in Europe given the less severe time zone difference in comparison to North and South America.
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