It doesn't take much to impatient the gaming audience, it's a fact. A road paved with success can easily be obscured by a missed target, and this is well known by the developers as well as the players themselves. Over this generation we have seen large corporations rise from the ashes to return to the limelight stronger than before - some say Capcom? - flanked by historical teams that quickly fell into oblivion. Among the latter, the most striking case was certainly the one that was involved Konami, a software house that over the last few decades has contributed to making gaming history only to then find itself, essentially, on the margins of the market. In the end we are talking about pure and simple mathematics and when the upper floors realized that the pachinko - or the popular Japanese slot machines - generated stratospheric revenues with the minimum effort, the abandonment of the industry was almost total.
Let's be clear, Konami has not closed its gaming departments and is still involved in developing new videogame productions, but there is no doubt that the enamel to which we had become accustomed long ago has now been lost, and with it also the hopes of many who imagined, one day, to be able to return to touch historical IPs unfairly closed in a drawer and sadly forgotten. Apparently, however, Sony could be on the verge of realizing a small miracle by rekindling the light of hope in the hearts of millions of users, with the latest rumors that seem to indicate the possible purchase of some of the most important home IPs. Konami. Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill e Castlevania, these are the names that have emerged in the last few days, the great franchises that in the future we could see coming exclusively to future Playstation home consoles ... but wanting to put aside the excitement, how much truth could actually be hidden behind the persuasive articles that have flooded us during these last days?
There where it all started
To answer this question we must start by analyzing the sources behind the great general chatter that has arisen; who lit the fuse? It all started with an information site that bases the entirety of its traffic on horror-themed articles, namely Rely on Horror. Through a piece written by one of the portal's collaborators, a decidedly intriguing rumor was presented but it concerned a single brand, namely Silenti Hill. The article, citing sources deemed "reliable", had shown Sony's genuine interest ingrab the IP of Silent Hill for the realization of two exclusive productions. On the one hand, a soft-reboot developed by SIE Japan Studio - whose team is also composed of various personalities who had the opportunity to work on the Siren franchise - flanked by the return with great fanfare of the Silent Hill branded Kojima and of which the teaser demo had depopulated with the codename PT
The news, at first, was resumed on the most popular social networks, such as Reddit and 4Chan, but few really cared about it, brandishing everything as an impossible dream. To shake the souls of many, in fact, was the arrival on the scene of a new figure, or the well-known insider Dusk Golem of the Resetera forum, famous for several good rumors released over the years. Shortly after the publication of the article, the man revealed some background on the results of Death Strading, in fact declaring that the sales of the latest creature from the Kojima family had not been able to make people cry out for a miracle, especially for an AAA production of this magnitude, a failure that would have even led to important discussions between Sony and Kojima himself.
Here, therefore, the first key points of the various rumors are reconnected, Kojima Productions will develop its Silent Hill exclusively on Playstation to make up for the losses accumulated following the development of Death Stranding. This, however, would only explain the possible acquisition of Silent Hill; Where did the other names come from? In this case, everything would have sprung from an old discussion, reported on the well-known 4Chan site, in which Sony's interest in grabbing three brands very dear to the public was highlighted, namely Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid and, precisely, Silent Hill. In this case, the reliability of the whole appears much more difficult to verify, but the various points of connection that can be found by reading the various rumors have led many to think that behind the many rumors there may be a grain of truth.
Between reality and fantasy
Exactly, there could be a grain of truth, and this is where we must stop and think. It's never nice to play the bad guy, but no matter how you look at it, it is difficult to think that Sony will really end up owning Konami's IPs. Who knows, maybe the big S could have really made a proposal to the Japanese company, but looking at everything with the most objective eyes possible, it is clear that Konami has no interest in selling its most important intellectual properties. Yes, it's true, at present the software house would not seem to be in the least interested in the development of new chapters related to the aforementioned franchises, but this does not mean that these IPs have been abandoned ... indeed, in hindsight they have never been exploited - even if perhaps the right term would be "raped" - so much by the company.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, in fact, Konami has totally launched into the world of pachinko, and has decided to do so by creating slot machines based on its most important IPs. Over the past few years they have made a lot of noise, for example, the Metal Gear Solid themed pachinko, a series of painful stabs in the heart of any gamer but are enjoying amazing results. There is little to do, gambling is a thriving market that if exploited in the right way can bring billions in revenues and, although it hurts to admit it, Konami knew how to immerse themselves perfectly, with its balance sheets that have never been so positive. So yes, Sony may have made an offer, but no amount will ever be enough for the software house's pockets.
This, however, certainly does not mean that you have to give up all hope, as there may be some positive implications. In fact, the possibility that Sony is actually in talks with Konami should not be taken lightly, not for the purchase of its IPs but to be able to obtain licenses, a much more plausible eventuality. On the one hand, in fact, the Playstation brand could enrich what will be the future Playstation 5 exclusive park with high-sounding names and potentially capable of bringing millions of additional players closer to the Sony ecosystem while, on the other hand, Konami could continue to capitalize. on its franchises in the way you see fit. The only certainty in this story is that, for the moment, everything still appears rather smoky and unclear; we know that Microsoft is doing everything possible to be able to give Sony a hard time in what will be the next generation of videogames and it is easy to think that on the upper floors of the Playstation home we are moving in the same direction, but in any case the final decision remains in the Konami's hands. For now, we can only wait and keep our fingers crossed, waiting to receive some official news from one of the two companies.
