Konami is hosting an Action & Shooting game development contest, and it’s letting small indie developers use some of its popular classic IPs such as the Ganbare Goemon series, Gradius, Star Soldier, and more. Over 80 titles are available for indie devs to use during the contest—jointly hosted by the Shueisha Game Creator’s Camp—with the winning team getting a total of 2 million yen (about $17,990) and an offer from Konami to publish the game.
Furthermore, Konami will also provide up to 30 million yen (about $260,000) of funding, as well as provide production advice, promotional materials, development tools, and even localization support to continue developing the winning title.
Recent reports have indicated that Konami is shifting focus to reviving some of its most popular series, after initially moving more towards the company’s gambling and pachinko businesses in Japan. These include franchises such as Castlevania, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear Solid. Castlevania, in particular, recently saw the release of a collection of classic games from the Game Boy Advance era.
Unfortunately, these arguably more popular franchises aren’t included in the contest, so we won’t be getting any 8-bit Solid Snakes or side-scrolling Silent Hill games any time soon. However, it does indicate a marked focus towards reviving the publisher’s more niches franchises as well. The rules surrounding the content of the games are also surprisingly lax; as long as it’s a shooting or action title, developers are free to create their own remakes, sequels, or even simply use the game’s characters, mechanics, and change up the genre entirely.
You can check out the official Konami indie game development contest promotional video (in Japanese) below:
The indie developer contest will run until January 6, 2022, at which point judges from Shueisha and Konami will decide on a winner. One applied, however, developers cannot share any information about the game or game’s development, especially if they win the grand prize. Prospective applicants should also be wary as there’s obviously no guarantee of compensation, and Konami is relying entirely on entrants following through with development once they are awarded the grand prize.
[Source: IGN]
