Overview
- Konami president Hideki Hayakawa said in the company’s integrated earnings report that AI "will not bring a significant change" to the games market and that people and creators remain the decisive force in making games.
- The report calls generative AI a "notable opportunity" that Konami will research while slowly issuing guardrails and providing systematic support so creators can assess risks and apply the technology safely.
- Hayakawa argued that entry barriers were already lowered by general-purpose game engines and the spread of user-generated content, so AI is unlikely to further democratize game creation in a way that reshapes the market.
- Coverage of the comments is based on a chain of reporting that Dengeki spotted and Automaton translated, so published English accounts note potential nuance loss from second‑hand translations.
- Konami’s stance sits with wider Japanese industry moves — surveys show heavy AI use for productivity tasks and peers such as Sega are restricting AI from creative outputs — a pattern that could prompt clearer disclosure, risk controls, and limits on AI in creative roles.