Bloober Team, the studio behind horror games like Layers of Fears and Blair Witch and The Medium, has announced a strategic partnership with publisher Konami. Rumors about a potential partnership have swirled around since earlier this year after Blooper Team CEO Piotr Babieno stated “We’ve been working for more than a year on another gaming project, another horror IP, and we’re doing this with a very famous gaming publisher.”
During this period it was suggested that Konami was in the process of producing not one but two Silent Hill games. It was suggested by VGC that one Japanese development was working on a Silent Hill game, with a release planned for summer. This left the Blooper Team Statement to imply Blooper Team might be working on the other.
Unfortunately, this was also during the heights of the Blue Box Conspiracy in which Hideo Kojima was assumed to be working on his Silent Hill game under a fake company. Of course, this turned out to be untrue, meaning that this summer reveal might still be out there for another company. All of this is simply speculation, however.
What we do know, is that as part of the agreement the two parties declared cooperation in the development of contents and the exchange of know-how. Babieno stated of the partnership:
It is a historic day for me and the culmination of several years of our work. The fact that such a renowned company as KONAMI has decided to strategically cooperate with the Bloober Team means that we also joined the world leaders in gaming and became an equal partner for the leading players in this market.
Hideki Hayakawa Representative Director, President Konami Digital Entertainment Stated:
We have been providing unique entertainment content and ways to enjoy it through the use of information technology. In the digital entertainment industry, significant changes in the business environment are expected in the future. We look forward to combining Bloober Team’s and our respective characteristics and strengths to create high-quality contents.
Konami has been out of video game development since the release of the ill-fated Metal Gear Survive. During this time the company has focused on mobile, Pachinko, and Live-Service style games which have brought them to record profits during 2020.
People have often misinterpreted this change in focus as their franchises being ‘up for grabs’, but that could not be further from the truth. Recently Konami also announced a new murder mystery multiplayer game named Crimesight. We will have to wait and see what the partnership between Bloober Team and Konami is leading to.
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