Konami becomes one of Japan’s most sought-after employers after sharp rise in popularity

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
20240702-33273-header-768x432.jpeg

​
The Nikkei and MyNavi recently published a survey on the most desired employers among Japanese university and graduate students expected to graduate and begin working in March 2026. The results show that Konami has seen a sharp rise in popularity over the past year.

Conducted between October 2024 and March 2025, the survey had a sample size of over 25,000 liberal arts students and over 10,000 sciences students (results are also separated accordingly).​
Click to expand...
Among companies relevant to the game industry, the most popular employer among liberal arts majors this year was Bandai Namco, which ranked 9th. The company maintained a similar level of popularity to last year, when it placed 10th.

Konami, on the other hand, rose significantly compared to last year, jumping from 31st to 10th. The company's sudden boost in popularity has caused some confusion even among Japanese users, but it may be worth noting that, in addition to reporting record breaking profits this fiscal year, Konami has also been consistently raising its starting salaries and has made a point of sending the message "we still care about human talent," which may have been contributing factors. According to the survey, the top reasons respondents chose Konami was "It's stable" (18.7%) and "It's at the top of its industry" (16.1%).​
Click to expand...
​
Other notable companies among liberal arts students included Sega at 13th (down from last year's 8th) and Nintendo at 17th (up from 29th last year).

Meanwhile, the employer rankings for science students were topped by Sony, holding the number one spot for both this year and last. Sega and Nintendo also ranked well among science students, coming in at 11th and 15th, respectively. Interestingly, among the 49 companies in the ranking, Bandai Namco was most frequently selected for the reason "I feel like I'll be able to do the work I like" (17.5%).​
Click to expand...

Source - Automaton West​
 
AJUMP23 said:
Finally got rid of their dead weight and built a GACHA company that makes a lot of money.
Click to expand...
Wait, am I missing something here? Konami's recent success is not due to the pachinko business (gacha slot machines), but because their digital gaming sector (Momotaro Densetsu, eFootball, the baseball series they have, Silent Hill 2, etc.) has been doing very well.

Edit: The pachinko business is under "Gaming & Systems" in the financial report I've linked.

On January 31, Konami released its financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 2025. Its Digital Entertainment sector (i.e. game sector) saw both sales and operating profit increase thanks to a solid line-up of profitable releases, like Silent Hill 2. According to GameBiz, this helped the Konami Group achieve record-breaking profit in the third quarter (October to December 2024), on top of their previously reported record highs for the first half of the year.
Click to expand...
Konami's sports related games also did well. This includes two new baseball titles heavily featuring and endorsed by popular baseballer Shohei Ohtani of the LA Dodgers. As for catalogue titles, eFootball continued to enjoy strong demand, reaching over 800 million downloads across all platforms.

Net sales for Konami's Digital Entertainment sector during the nine-month-period totaled 228,882 million yen (up 32% year-on-year), while operating profit amounted to 80,817 million yen (up 44.6% year-on-year).
Click to expand...
automaton-media.com

Konami reports record high quarterly profits driven by Silent Hill 2 and other game releases - AUTOMATON WEST

Strong performance of games including the Silent Hill 2 remake and eFootball have helped Konami maintain record-breaking profits this year.
automaton-media.com automaton-media.com
 
Last edited:
Thick Thighs Save Lives said:
Wait, am I missing something here? Konami's recent success is not due to the pachinko business (gacha slot machines), but because their digital gaming sector (Momotaro Densetsu, eFootball, the baseball series they have, Silent Hill 2, etc.) has been doing very well.



automaton-media.com

Konami reports record high quarterly profits driven by Silent Hill 2 and other game releases - AUTOMATON WEST

Strong performance of games including the Silent Hill 2 remake and eFootball have helped Konami maintain record-breaking profits this year.
automaton-media.com automaton-media.com
Click to expand...
Probably just a joke based on the Pachinko products and that Japanese students seem to be super addicted to Gatcha games.
 
I suspect most people here are wildly out of date with their view of Konami. Their 2025 is fantastic, with 6 or more games I want to buy.
  • 03/06/25 Suikoden I & II
  • 05/08/25 Tokimeki Memorial Remake (Japan only)
  • 05/22/25 Deliver at All Costs
  • 07/15/25 Edens Zero
  • 08/07/25 Gradius Origins
  • 08/28/25 Metal Gear Delta
  • ??/??/25 Silent Hill f
  • 11/??/25 Silent Hill 2 (Xbox)
That's substantially more interesting than both SQEX and Capcom this year. I want to get all of these. Some on discount for sure, but even Edens Zero looks great. Deliver at all costs looks super original and unique. They are definitely still relying a lot on re-releases but it's a start.
 
Last edited:
StereoVsn said:
Probably just a joke based on the Pachinko products and that Japanese students seem to be super addicted to Gatcha games.
Click to expand...
Yeah, probably that's why I missed the joke, because pachinkos haven't been the main driver of Konami's business for ages now. Anyway, it's whatever.
 
Last edited:
Thick Thighs Save Lives said:
Wait, am I missing something here? Konami's recent success is not due to the pachinko business (gacha slot machines), but because their digital gaming sector (Momotaro Densetsu, eFootball, the baseball series they have, Silent Hill 2, etc.) has been doing very well.

Edit: The pachinko business is under "Gaming & Systems" in the financial report I've linked.



automaton-media.com

Konami reports record high quarterly profits driven by Silent Hill 2 and other game releases - AUTOMATON WEST

Strong performance of games including the Silent Hill 2 remake and eFootball have helped Konami maintain record-breaking profits this year.
automaton-media.com automaton-media.com
Click to expand...
I was making a Kojima related joke.
 
Punished Miku said:
I suspect most people here are wildly out of date with their view of Konami. Their 2025 is fantastic, with 6 or more games I want to buy.
  • 03/06/25 Suikoden I & II
  • 05/08/25 Tokimeki Memorial Remake (Japan only)
  • 05/22/25 Deliver at All Costs
  • 07/15/25 Edens Zero
  • 08/07/25 Gradius Origins
  • 08/28/25 Metal Gear Delta
  • ??/??/25 Silent Hill f
  • 11/??/25 Silent Hill 2 (Xbox)
That's substantially more interesting than both SQEX and Capcom this year. I want to get all of these. Some on discount for sure, but even Edens Zero looks great. Deliver at all costs looks super original and unique. They are definitely still relying a lot on re-releases but it's a start.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

How long is any of that going to last? I think people are correct to be skeptical as so many of those teams are gone, they have to outsource a lot of that development and we don't know how a lot of those games are going to turn out

So with all due respect, their 2025 isn't fantastic until a lot of those games release and we get an actual real idea of how the publisher is doing.

It "appears" to be fantastic, you WANT to buy etc, we'll see how that turns out when they actually release those games and we go from there.

I'm completely ok with the skepticism with this publisher right now, Capcom and Square can afford to take their time, their fucking actual quality or commitment to gaming isn't in question...

No one here is wondering IF a RE will come out or IF a RE will be good etc we fucking know it will...
 
Last edited:
Konamis remaster collections such as Castlevania anniversary and Suikoden 1 & 2 have been awesome so far. Very high quality. Silent Hill 2 was great as well. A less known remake they did was Getsafumaden which was an awesome roguelike. Konami is on a roll. At least with their old stuff.
 
It's because of Suikoden 1&2. Finally turn-based traditional JRPGs are assuming their rightful place as the dominant force in the gaming world. They're finally getting the mainstream popularity and critical acclaim they so richly deserve.

It only took the world 30 years to recognize what we weebs have known all along.
 
Not sure how much can be extrapolated to the success of their games division. Konami Group is a lot more than just vidya gaems.
 
Konami: You fucks need to get Igarashi and give him money to make a new, proper Castlevania game. Also: Port MGS4 over to modern platforms.
 
robor said:
Japan has the biggest gambling addiction in the world.
Click to expand...

...that we know of, anyway. Who knows what gambling statistics go unreported in other countries, or get labeled as something other than gambling.

Take Wall Street stocks. That's basically gambling, and America's got a huge obsession with it. So likely, America's got a bigger gambling problem, most of it's just under the guise of stock investments.
 
Well that's a twist, didn't konami famously remove individualism from the game devs and had automated email addresses generated for each project ? To the point journalist couldn't reach the contacts at the company.

The ending of Metal Gear Solid: Survive ends with the credits spelling out "Boss save us".
 
Last edited:
Gambling and Gacha are are basically aligned as far as mental stimuli go. Americans have also become more into Gacha this "gen".

I honestly think this generation is defined by these type of games, the rise of it at least in the west. I realize these games have been a thing for a good while in Asian regions.
 
It is time for Konami to get back the position they never had to leave.

Silent Hill 2 Remake is one hell of a game, such a masterpiece.
 
near said:
It's from the most awkward conference of all time.

Click to expand...

Oh this was the best, the whole show was a dumpster fire. Watching this live was so fucking hilarious I would think about it and start laughing months after.

Shit like this is why I miss E3. I actually worked it a few years when I was in QA at Activision, I got to escort Stan Lee around
and he just wanted to see the booth babes. Awesome, best time of my life.
 
Last edited:
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
...that we know of, anyway. Who knows what gambling statistics go unreported in other countries, or get labeled as something other than gambling.

Take Wall Street stocks. That's basically gambling, and America's got a huge obsession with it. So likely, America's got a bigger gambling problem, most of it's just under the guise of stock investments.
Click to expand...

Dude, no Japanese girl is reading this let alone wanting to fuck you.
 
I just miss when the world felt normal. When game developers were cranking out multiple 8+/10 tier games a year. Think about the era from 1998 to 2024. Konami alone owning a substantial amount of masterpieces (many thanks to Kojima) in that 6 year time period, nevermind the numerous other studios out there churning out their own works of art. Now compare 2019 to 2025. It's pathetic. All the creativity is gone, the genuineness of the game developer world is completely screwed out by corporate overlords, and nothing is improving anymore except graphics and who fucking cares about a shiny polished turd.
 
The Lunch Legend said:
Konami > Capcom.
Click to expand...

I agree actually

The last Capcom game that didn't disappoint me was "Tatsunoko vs Capcom" the newer VS/SF games have been average or meh

As someone who hates DMC and RE the last ten years or so of Capcom have been a nothing burger

WHERE IS MAXIMO!?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Nintendo ranks third among most sought-after employers in Japan
Business 
14
1K
Drell replied
Ghost of Tsushima rises into the top 5 Steam global sellers a day after Rise of Ronin release
36
2K
Zacfoldor replied
After 10 years of development, Roboquest is finally complete.
1
51
vaibhavpisal replied
Ubisoft stock closed down 7% one day after AC Shadows release
2 3
116
8K
StereoVsn replied
February Steam Hardware Survey: After almost 2 years, the RTX 4060 finally overtook the 3060 as the most popular GPU
Hardware Platform 
36
2K
KouNaN replied
Top Bottom