Konami invites independent developers to create new games based on some of its classic series

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Konami has announced an independent game contest actively soliciting small developers to create games based on some of its classic series, such as Gradius, Ganbare Goemon, and many more.

Konami Action and shooting game contest asks independent creators to plan and develop new action games and shooters based on previous Konami titles. The rules allow creators to make remakes or sequels, they can choose a single character or mechanic from a previous title, or even switch or combine genres that may not have been in the originals. Thanks to the collaboration of the independent creators and Konami, these new works could potentially become commercial products.

TO video describing the contest It was published by Konami. This contest is sponsored by Konami and is carried out in cooperation with Shueisha Game Creators Camp, a project to support game developers. The contest began on September 30 and will run until January 6, 2022.

Konami specified 80 different games for the creators to reinvent, including games from Gradius, Star Soldier, Twinbee, Ganbare Goemon, Knightmare, and others. The full list can be found at the end of the official entry page (in Japanese).

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It comes at an interesting time for Konami as a whole: A recent report says that the company is beginning to refocus on its own series and is becoming more open to allowing third parties to develop games within them. While Konami herself is apparently handling new games for Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, and Silent Hill, this contest seems to allow some of her lesser-known or more cult favorite series to resurface through different mediums.

The grand prize of the contest is 2 million yen (about US $ 18,000) and Konami will offer to publish works that can be marketed. In addition to investing up to 30 million yen ($ 270,000 USD) in development funds for commercialized projects, Konami will provide supervision, production advice and support regarding localization, promotion and development teams.

The scheme of the contest is as follows:

Ryuichi Shigeta is a freelance writer for IGN Japan. This article was translated by Diamond Feit.




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