According to report form the local Honolulu Star Bulletin, Japanese publisher Konami is to close its development studio in Waikiki, Hawaii by the end of the year, with the loss of as many as 40 jobs.
With executives refusing to indicate exactly why the studio is being closed, the Star Bulletin was only
able to report the following short statement: “In the late fall of this year, Konami will be closing its Honolulu, Hawaii, office in order to streamline operations. We regret that this necessary business decision will affect approximately 40 employees. Where it is possible, Konami has been providing and will continue providing positions to these employees at other locations within the company.”
The Hawaiian studio, which other sources in the report claim houses only a dozen or so developers currently, created a number of entries in the
Frogger franchise, including
Frogger Beyond for current generation home consoles and
Frogger's Adventures 2: The Lost Wand for the Game Boy Advance, as well as
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix for the Xbox.
The report quotes John Strom of Enterprise Honolulu as suggesting that Konami, which has recently undergone considerable restructuring, is engaged upon a process of phasing out all game development in the U.S., moving work to the company's "digital entertainment and casino gaming facilities in Los Angeles and Las Vegas". However, this specific change to the company’s development strategy has not been explicitly confirmed by Konami to date.
