Konami is a Japanese multimedia company and one of the most recognized names in the video game industry. In addition to developing video games, they also operate as a publisher and distributor of trading cards (Yu-Gi-Oh!), anime, TV series, popular Pachinko machines, casino devices, and arcade cabinets. They also have casinos around the world, as well as gyms in Japan.
Konami was founded by Kagemasa Kōzuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, and Tatsuo Miyasako on March 21, 1969, as a company for renting and repairing jukebox devices. Kōzuki and Miyasako met while working for Nippon Columbia in Osaka, while Miyasako's acquaintance Nakama worked in the music industry. The name Konami is actually a combination of all their names.
By 1973, the jukebox industry in Japan began to decline, and the company's focus shifted to manufacturing arcade machines. On March 19, 1973, the name was officially changed to Konami Industry Co., Ltd. In the late 70s, Konami developed video games for Leijac Corporation, with the first title being Block Yard, which was released in August 1977 in Japan and arrived in the US in January 1979.
The first major success for the company came in the early 1980s with the release of games such as: Scramble, Frogger, Super Cobra, Time Pilot, Roc'n Rope, Track & Field, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu. Most of the early titles were licensed by Konami to other companies to reach the American market, including: Centuri, Stern Electronics, Sega, and Gremlin Industries. Konami Inc., better known as Konami of America Inc. and Konami Digital Entertainment Inc., was founded in November 1982 in Torrance, California.
During 1983 and 1985, they primarily developed titles for MSX and NES, during which some of their most famous franchises emerged: Gradius, Castlevania, TwinBee, Ganbare Goemon, Contra, and Metal Gear. They also achieved great success with the licensed series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which further cemented their status as kings of arcade games.
After the release of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1994, Konami split into several subsidiaries, some of which later developed the first games in the Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid series, as well as music titles for the company Bemani. They also expanded into the trading card world and created the popular game Yu-Gi-Oh!, which still has millions of fans today. The sports series International Superstar Soccer and Pro Evolution Soccer, which have now transformed into the free-to-play series eFootball, should not be forgotten either.
Hideo Kojima is certainly one of the most recognized names associated with the Metal Gear Solid series and Konami, and their business relationship lasted from 1987 until 2015 when there was a shift away from individual studios, resulting in Kojima leaving his position as vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment, and his name being removed from promotional materials for MGS.
Konami's legal team even prohibited Kojima from appearing at The Game Awards, where he was supposed to receive the award for Best Action-Adventure Game (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain). Kojima's friend and award show host Geoff Keighley publicly condemned these moves, so instead of Kojima, the award was then accepted by Kiefer Sutherland, and the choir also performed Quiet's Theme from the game as a tribute to Kojima.
