Konami Group Corporation

Is Konami a subsidiary of another company?
No. Konami Group Corporation is an independent publicly traded company. Founder Kagemasa Kozuki retains significant control through foundation holdings, but Konami is not a subsidiary of any other corporation; it owns operating subsidiaries including Konami Digital Entertainment.

Is Konami publicly traded?
Yes. Konami Group trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticker 9766 and on the London Stock Exchange under ticker KNM, one of the few Japanese companies with a full London listing held since 1999.

When was Konami founded?
Konami was founded on March 21, 1969, in Osaka by Kagemasa Kozuki as a jukebox rental business, incorporating as Konami Industry in 1973. It entered arcade games in the late 1970s and became a video game publisher through the 1980s.

Who founded Konami?
Kagemasa Kozuki founded the company and remains chairman and controlling shareholder. The Konami name derives from the surnames of Kozuki and early partners Nakamura, Matsuda, and Ishihara.

What is Konami's market position?
Konami is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate with record FY2026 revenue of JPY 493.7 billion. It owns the world's best-selling trading card game in Yu-Gi-Oh!, is a top-tier Japanese game publisher, and supplies casino systems to international markets.

Does Konami own Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Konami publishes the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game worldwide and has held the card game rights since 1999. The underlying franchise IP is shared with Shueisha and the estate of creator Kazuki Takahashi, who died in 2022, but Konami operates the TCG business globally.

Kagemasa Kozuki founded the company in Osaka in 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business, incorporating it as Konami Industry Co., Ltd. in 1973. The name combines the founders' surnames: Kozuki, Nakamura, Matsuda, and Ishihara.

The company pivoted to arcade video games in the late 1970s and 1980s, producing hits including Frogger, Scramble, and Track & Field. Home console expansion through the NES era created flagship franchises: Metal Gear (1987), Castlevania (1986), Contra (1987), and Silent Hill (1999), alongside the sports titles that became Winning Eleven / Pro Evolution Soccer.

The 1999 launch of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, licensed from Kazuki Takahashi's manga, created a second business pillar outside video games. Konami listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1988, Osaka in 1991, and London in 1999, becoming one of the first Japanese entertainment companies with international listing.

A 2015 strategic shift de-emphasized console development in favor of mobile and ongoing franchises, drawing criticism before a successful 2020s comeback. The company renamed itself Konami Group Corporation in 2022, consolidated studios under Konami Digital Entertainment, and rode revivals of Silent Hill, Metal Gear remakes, Yu-Gi-Oh!'s sustained global strength, and the eFootball free-to-play platform to record FY2025 and FY2026 results.

Konami publishes ESG reporting covering corporate governance reforms adopted in 2022, environmental targets for its Tokyo headquarters and data centers, and human capital development programs. The sports segment contributes community health services through its club network.

Governance controversies have historically centered on founder control concentration and past accounting issues; the company has moved toward more independent board oversight in the 2020s.

Konami has faced sustained criticism over its 2015 estrangement from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and the treatment of legacy franchise development talent, which damaged its reputation among core gamers before the 2020s IP revival partially rehabilitated it.

The company's pachislot and casino businesses attract regulatory scrutiny inherent to gambling-adjacent industries in Japan and international gaming markets. Yu-Gi-Oh! product issues including secondary market speculation and card quality concerns are recurring but minor.