Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. is a subsidiary of the Konami Group, one of the biggest names in the digital entertainment world. Since 1984 Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. has been one of the leading innovators of coin operated, amusement arcade products and games software products, being on the forefront and inventing cult arcade games, such as the infamous and hugely popular Dancing Stage (a.k.a. DDR).

With 2 other divisions – Konami Gaming, Inc. and Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd., Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. is part of the Konami group of companies that has been around for several decades with a great gaming history.

 

Back to the roots...

In 1969 Kegamasa Kozuki , current Chairman of the Board and CEO, founded a jukebox rental and repair business. This was soon to be expanded and in March 1972 KONAMI INDUSTRY CO. LTD. (KONAMI) was established and began to manufacture amusement machines for arcades. Being ever so innovative and ‘ahead of the game’, 5 years later in January 1978 KONAMI created and began to market video games using microcomputers. One year later they also entered the US market for the very first time by exporting some of their main products. This was only the first step towards a much greater expansion into the US market which was about to come…

 

The classic 80s...

During the 1980s KONAMI went from strength to strength with even greater expansions and the establishments of KONAMI satellite offices in Europe and the US.

Konami achieved great success when they entered the Nintendo Entertainment System (known as Family Computer in Japan) game business which shot to fame in the mid to late 80s. During the glory days of NES/FamCom, many of the bestselling games were produced by KONAMI, including classics such as Frogger, Gradius, Track& Field and Scramble.

 

The golden 90s...

With the boom of game consoles in the 90s such as PlayStation, Nintendo as well as PC games, KONAMI enjoyed great success with the release of cult games such as the vampire-hunting Castlevania series, the survival horror Silent Hill series and the espionage action Metal Gear series.

In 1998 KONAMI entered the card game business and released the hugely popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game which even after a decade still enjoys great success.

Being on the forefront as usual KONAMI also launched the famous arcade game Dance Dance Revolution (known as Dancing Stage in Europe), which has become a hit all across the world. Today Dance Dance Revolution has a huge fan base with fan-clubs and tournaments being organised around the world.

As recognition of the immense growth of the company, KONAMI was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In January 1996 Konami Gaming Inc. was established in the US. This new division of the company grasped the great market opportunities in the gaming and casino industry by obtaining licenses to manufacture and sell gaming machines in some states in the US and Oceania.

 

2000-Present: A new era…

Following on the great successes in the last decade in the gaming industry, KONAMI became the first Japanese company to enter the world’s largest gaming machines market in the US by obtaining a license from Nevada to manufacture and sell gaming machines.

The new era saw the release of one of KONAMI’s biggest ever titles, with the release of Pro Evolution Soccer (known as Winning Eleven in Japan and The Americas). Pro Evolution Soccer is a football videogame which has become extremely popular and endorsed by some of the best football players in the world such as Thierry Henry, John Terry, Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo.

KONAMI also pioneered with a new online technology, e-Amusement, which is an online service for arcade machines. Using this service arcade players around the globe can play against each other in real time. The tremendous success of the e-Amusement service in Japan and Asia has resulted in plans to further expand the system to Europe and other continents.

KONAMI also entered the hugely popular Xbox game business and launched enjoying great sales with games such as Dancing Stage Universe, Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer.

Following the rapid changes in society and great advances in technology, the new era saw a great re-structure of the company. To better respond to these change KONAMI merged the Computer & Video Games, Toy & Hobby, Amusement, Online and Multimedia domains into the Digital Entertainment Business. Through this KONAMI could better allocate resources and more effectively use the popular content and target greater synergies.

The new era also saw a very successful entrance into the Health and Fitness business in Japan, where KONAMI operates with more than 310 fitness clubs. Through the Konami Sports Clubs and its services, the company put the KONAMI ‘know-how’ and proven record of achievement to great use in promoting healthier lifestyles in Japan.

Finally, after the great success and the growth of the company, KONAMI was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2002 and at the end of the last fiscal year (end of March 2007); Konami had over 5,181 employees worldwide and generated a converted turnover of approx. 280.3 billion Japanese YEN. The company now operates in North and South America, and across Europe and Asia.

To learn more about the long and remarkable history of Konami, click here.