Konami says in financial report that AI will not significantly change the game market

• Hideki Hayakawa, president and representative director of Konami Digital Entertainment, said AI can improve efficiency, but people and creators remain the key factor.
• The comments were cited by Kotaku based on Konami’s financial documentation; the exact document type is not fully visible in the source provided.

What happened

Konami addressed the role of artificial intelligence in game development in its financial reporting. In the cited passage, the company says it does not expect AI on its own to significantly shift the games market. That wording comes from a Kotaku report published on 16 October 2026, which refers to Konami’s financial documentation for FY2025.

Hideki Hayakawa, president and representative director of Konami Digital Entertainment, added that AI can help improve efficiency. According to the quoted statement, people — especially creators — remain the most important factor in making interesting and innovative games. In the passage cited by Kotaku, that idea is explicitly tied to game development rather than to a standalone AI product or a separate technology announcement.

The comments were published by Kotaku based on Konami’s financial documentation. From the available source, it is not clear whether this was an annual report, an earnings report, or another financial publication. External context does point to multiple Konami investor documents for FY2025, including an annual financial report and a group report, confirming that the statement came from a formal financial context.

The provided sources do not mention any specific internal AI use cases at Konami. As a result, the only clear takeaway is that the company views AI in general as a tool that can improve efficiency, while emphasizing the role of human creators. The source also does not show whether Konami made the statement in a strategy section, a risk section, a product development section, or a personnel policy section.

Background

Konami Digital Entertainment is the game and entertainment division of Konami Group. The company is known for franchises such as Metal Gear and Silent Hill, and the AI comments surfaced in a financial context rather than in a standalone product announcement. The external context refers to Konami Group Report FY2025 and a PDF annual financial report, showing that the discussion of AI was part of broader corporate reporting.

The provided sources do not mention any concrete internal AI applications at Konami. That means it is not possible to determine whether the company is already using AI for concept art, QA, translation, production planning, or code assistance. The only firm conclusion from the available information is that Konami sees AI as a way to improve efficiency, while keeping human creators at the center.

The exact document type also remains unclear. The source mentions both an annual financial report and a group report, but the Kotaku summary does not make it visible which specific document the passage came from. So it is not yet possible to say with certainty whether the statement came from a yearly report, an earnings report, or another financial disclosure.

The name Alicia Haddick appears in the external context as the author of the Kotaku article. That makes it clear the reporting came through a journalistic summary of Konami’s own documentation. The core message of that summary is consistent: Konami does not expect AI alone to fundamentally change the market, and it links game quality to human creators and teams.

Related GAME-scanner articles

• Hideo Kojima praises ‘Digger’ and compares film with Metal Gear Solid 2
• Galaxies Autumn Showcase 2026: more than 50 games with The Finals Prime Time and Frosthaven 1.0

Sources

• Kotaku: Silent Hill And Metal Gear Publisher Konami Does 'Not Believe' The Market Will Shift Significantly Because Of AI (16 October 2026)
• Konami Group Corporation: financial reporting / investor relations documentation for FY2025