Frankly, it seems stupid to cease producing actual games. There is only so much money to be made from pachinko. Good profits? Undeniably. It’s gambling, after all. But Japan is smaller than the entirety of the world and, as far as I know, they make pachinko money from Japan alone.
I think it came down to net vs gross. They make less in gross with pachinko, but their net was higher due to less overhead. It’s like the dodgy gacha market that every Japanese game house has gotten into. They can put out a shit product that only reaches a 10th of their previous market, but that 10th pays through the teeth for their waifu.
I’m also curious if there’s any risk of the Japanese government finally cracking down on those places and setting stricter laws on gambling. Maybe not in the next few years, but sometime in the future.
Frankly, it seems stupid to cease producing actual games. There is only so much money to be made from pachinko. Good profits? Undeniably. It’s gambling, after all. But Japan is smaller than the entirety of the world and, as far as I know, they make pachinko money from Japan alone.
I think it came down to net vs gross. They make less in gross with pachinko, but their net was higher due to less overhead. It’s like the dodgy gacha market that every Japanese game house has gotten into. They can put out a shit product that only reaches a 10th of their previous market, but that 10th pays through the teeth for their waifu.
Konami doesn’t limit itself to Japan, look into KCMS/SYNKROS when you have the chance.
https://www.konamigaming.com/systems/synkros
They are everywhere in the slot machine world.
I’m also curious if there’s any risk of the Japanese government finally cracking down on those places and setting stricter laws on gambling. Maybe not in the next few years, but sometime in the future.