History Creator / Konami

In 1999, the company inked an agreement with [[Creator/VivendiUniversalGames Universal Interactive Studios]], which allowed Konami to publish, distribute market several UIS titles in all territories. By 2004, both companies parted ways as Vivendi Universal set up their own Japanese division.

* ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart'' (Except Nokia N-Gage and mobile phone versions)
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheHugeAdventure''
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2NTranced''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}.. (Creator/{{Netflix}})

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}} (Creator/PowerhouseAnimation and Creator/{{Netflix}}

* ''Anime/SaintOctober'' (Co-Prodection with [[Creator/AnimalYa Studio Comet]])

[[https://konami.com Konami Group Corporation]] is a popular Tokyo-based maker of video games, toys, slot machines and trading cards, founded by Kagemasa Kozuki on March 21, 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business in Osaka, Japan. Konami transitioned to arcade development in the '70s, and was responsible for arcade hits throughout the '80s such as ''Frogger'', ''Gradius'', ''Contra'', and ''Track & Field.'' It became one of the leading third-party developers during the NES era, thanks to best-selling ports of many of its arcade hits, as well as console-exclusive titles such as ''Castlevania'', and ''Metal Gear''. It is currently the fourth-largest game company in Japan, behind Creator/{{Nintendo}}, [[Creator/{{Sega}} Sega Sammy]] and Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment.

%%IMPORTANT NOTE: Konami is an extremely polarizing company with a vocal Hatedom as a result of their business practices, but still has many fans of their present works (BEMANI and Pro Evolution Soccer in particular). No matter how much you think the company deserves it, please refrain from creator bashing and keep the page focussed on facts about the company.

Konami Group Corporation is a popular Tokyo-based maker of video games, toys, slot machines and trading cards, founded by Kagemasa Kozuki on March 21, 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business in Osaka, Japan. Konami transitioned to arcade development in the '70s, and was responsible for arcade hits throughout the '80s such as ''Frogger'', ''Gradius'', ''Contra'', and ''Track & Field.'' It became one of the leading third-party developers during the NES era, thanks to best-selling ports of many of its arcade hits, as well as console-exclusive titles such as ''Castlevania'', and ''Metal Gear''. It is currently the fourth-largest game company in Japan, behind Creator/{{Nintendo}}, [[Creator/{{Sega}} Sega Sammy]] and Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment.

* ''Manga/{{Phoenix}}'' (Famicom and MSX games)

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty2'' (UsefulNotes/Xbox360 version; originally developed by Infinity Ward, collaborated with IW to market the game in Japan.)

* ''[[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]'' (Arcade and NES game)
** ''VideoGame/BuckyOHare''

Due to Nintendo's restrictions on third-party licensing during that era, Konami could release only five games per year for the NES. Konami found a way around this by creating a quasi-independent subsidiary known as "Ultra Games", which published the first ''VideoGame/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1989}}'' game, ''Skate or Die'', ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', and an expanded version of ''VideoGame/{{Gyruss}}'', among others. (They made a similar move in Europe with Palcom Software Ltd.) After Nintendo relaxed its standards, Konami closed Ultra in 1992 and absorbed its remaining employees into its American branch. Some of the other Konami staff left that same year to create Creator/{{Treasure}} Co. Ltd. Konami also owned a majority stake in Creator/HudsonSoft until making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

In spite of their claimed mobile gaming market focus, Konami entered the PC gaming and [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports market]] with their own brand Arespear (similar to Dell's Alienware and HP's Omen) in 2020, after seeing the resurgence of PC as a gaming platform in Japan after decades. Since then, Konami has been running and expanding their e-sports services there as well as releasing some of their recent games on [=PCs=] both in Japan and overseas. In 2021, Konami expanded their e-sports activities to include the ''BEMANI'' franchise with BEMANI Pro League, with players competing in teams based on Japanese arcades.

In spite of their claimed mobile gaming market focus, Konami entered the PC gaming and e-sports market with their own brand Arespear (similar to Dell's Alienware and HP's Omen) in 2020, after seeing the resurgence of PC as a gaming platform in Japan after decades. Since then, Konami has been running and expanding their e-sports services there as well as releasing some of their recent games on [=PCs=] both in Japan and overseas.

!!Konami games that were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen cancelled]]:

* ''Six Days in Fallujah'' (planned to be published by Victura since 2016)

* ''VideoGame/{{CyGirls}}''

* ''VideoGame/TheThing2002'' (Only for PS2)

* ''VideoGame/{{CyGirls}}''

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 2'' (UsefulNotes/Xbox360 version; originally developed by Infinity Ward, collaborated with IW to market the game in Japan.)

* ''VideoGame/CyborgKuroChan''