Konami has announced that Pro Evolution Soccer will be the only of its franchises to avoid the chopping block as it ceases all other triple-A console game production.

The announcement follows much speculation stemming from the reportedly oppressive company culture at the Tokyo firm's games division and the fraught relationship between company bosses and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, who is no longer with Konami.

Worldwide technology director Julien Merceron has also left Konami, in a move that's understood to be a reflection of his discontent with the company's departure from console gaming to pursue mobile-first development.

Divisions

Konami - while known in the west almost exclusively for its gaming legacy with franchises such as Castlevania, Silent Hill and Contra - also successfully operates casino gaming and health clubs in Japan.

To that extent, gaming generates a minority of its annual revenues. 

The beginning of Konami's disenchantment with console gaming is said to have occurred following the success of its mobile game Dragon Collection, on which the costs were much lower and the margins much higher than could be expected on its average console production.

The delayed Metal Gear Solid V, for instance, reportedly cost $80 million to make.

Whether or not the company's renewed focus on mobile means we are likely to see more of its high-profile IP appearing on the App Store remains to be seen. 

However, if this is the case, it would appear that Konami wants to start on the platform afresh, with a clean slate - it pulled 31 of its games from the iOS App Store at the end of August.

[Source: Eurogamer]