Konami Digital Entertainment — the core of the Konami Group responsible for mobile, console and card games (Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania) announced the launch of its own dedicated anime studio, Konami Animation, as well as a flurry of new projects celebrating the 25th anniversary of global hit franchise Yu-Gi-Oh!
Donning the tagline “Add (+) Anime to Konami,” Konami Animation debuted with its first animated short, Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game: The Chronicles, during the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: The Legend of Duelist Quarter Century event at Tokyo Dome this past weekend (watch it below).
KDE says it will apply its CGI technology and expertise gleaned from its game development activities to the new anime venture, which plans to work on Konami IP as well as outside properties.
During the Quarter Century celebration, the company also announced new expansions of the franchise in development to excite the nostalgia of “Duelists” around the world.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a new digital title in development, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game. Coming to the Nintendo Switch and Steam, the collection brings together the earliest Yu-Gi-Oh! games ever released. The collection will feature games from the titles, including titles that weren’t previously released in the West.
One title has already been confirmed: 2000’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists for the Game Boy Color – a title that was previously released only in Japan. More details will be announced in the future, so please stay tuned.
At the event, attendees were able to step into a brand-new Yu-Gi-Oh! experience which combines the world of the mobile and PC game Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL LINKS with VR technology. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links Presents SOLID VISION EXPERIMENT takes the illustrations from the cards and brings them to life in an immersive VR space. Players take part in a realistic Duel within the game’s world, featuring iconic monsters like Blue-Eyes White Dragon, appearing in 3D. Konami intends to develop more games utilizing VR and other new technologies.
Additionally, Konami revealed Maximum Summoning is coming to Rush Duel in Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL LINKS. This brand-new feature lets you combine three Maximum Monsters together into one super-powerful monster with extremely high attack power and the ability to use each of those Maximum Monsters’ effects. Coming on February 28.
Event attendees were also able to watch the Duel of Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL: an AI opponent that learns the more that it Duels. The Yu-Gi-Oh MASTER DUEL x AI Project is a project to deliver new ways to enjoy Duels in MASTER DUEL by building a system that allows AI to be installed and enabling Duels in the game to be played with the AI created by external programs. This AI program grows and learns through continuous Dueling. During the event, attendees saw the thinking processes of the AI visualized, such as selection patterns of the AI’s actions, quantifying win rates depending on how Duels develop and predicting which cards would be played.
It has not yet been determined if Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL x AI Project will be added to the game itself.
To celebrate two years of Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL, new 2nd Anniversary commemorative items and login bonuses are coming to the game. Starting 7 February, players can acquire:
- A differently illustrated UR edition of the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon in resplendent Royal Finish Blue-Eyes White Dragon-themed accessories, including a Duel Field, Card Case, Protector and more
- A magnificent new Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon Mate
- 1,000 Gems for free and 3 free 2nd Anniversary Packs, including UR Royal Finish cards
[Sources: Comics Natalie via Anime News Network, Konami Digital Entertainment]
