Corporate History

1969

March 21

Kagemasa Kozuki (current Chairman of the Board) founded his business.

1973

March 19

KONAMI INDUSTRY CO., LTD (1 million yen in capital) was established and began manufacturing amusement machines for arcades.

1974

February

Capital increased to 4 million yen.

1975

September

Capital increased to 10 million yen.

1978

October

Capital increased to 20 million yen.

1979

January

KONAMI started to export products to the United States.

December

Capital increased to 40 million yen.

1980

May

Headquarters moved to newly constructed office building in Osaka.

1981

March

The KONAMI logo was established.

1982

March

KONAMI received an investment from Osaka Small and Medium Business Investment & Consultation Co., Ltd. and increased its capital to 120 million yen.

Headquarters moved to Osaka Ekimae Daiyon Building in Kita-ku, Osaka.

October

KONAMI expanded into the PC game business.

November

Konami of America, Inc. (currently Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.) was established in the United States.

1983

November

Capital increased to 300 million yen.

December

KONAMI expanded into the MSX game business.

1984

March

The new Technology Development Center building was established in Osaka.

May

Konami Ltd. (currently Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.) was established in the United Kingdom.

October

KONAMI was listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange (specially designated stocks in the second section).
Capital increased to 2,940 million yen.

December

Konami GmbH (currently Konami Digital Entertainment B.V) was established in Germany.

KONAMI expanded into the Nintendo ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (called "FAMILY COMPUTER" in Japan) game business.

1985

November

Capital increased to 5,227 million yen.

1986

August

A new corporate identity was introduced. The new KONAMI logo was established.

Headquarters moved to the newly constructed Konami Software Development Building in Chuo-ku, Kobe.

October

The new Production Control Department and Distribution Center was established in Osaka.

November

Capital increased to 8,095 million yen.

1987

December

Konami Kosan Co., Ltd. (currently Konami Real Estate, Inc.) was established.

1988

February

KONAMI was listed on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

August

KONAMI was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange.

1991

May

Konami Technology Development Center (currently Kobe Technical Center) was established in Nishi-ku, Kobe.

June

KONAMI INDUSTRY CO., LTD. changed its trade name to KONAMI CO., LTD.

1992

September

KONAMI expanded into the pachislot & pachinko Machines Business, creating LCD games for Pachinko machines.

1993

April

Headquarters moved to Minato-ku, Tokyo.

1994

August

The Tokyo Technical Center was established in Zama, Kanagawa.

September

Konami (Hong Kong) Limited (currently Konami Digital Entertainment Limited) was established in Hong Kong.

1995

January

The Kobe Building in Chuo-ku, Kobe was damaged due to the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

1996

November

US holding company, Konami Corporation of America was established.

Konami Australia Pty Ltd was established in Australia.

1997

January

Konami Gaming, Inc. was established in the United States.

March

Capital increased to 11,892million yen.

The Amusement Machine Division Plant (merged with the current Kobe Technical Center) was established in Nishi-ku, Kobe.

October

KONAMI expanded into the Australian gaming machines market.

November

KONAMI was listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore.

European holding company, Konami Europe B.V. (currently Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.) was established in the Netherlands.

1998

March

Capital increased to 12,020million yen.

October

The KONAMI logo was changed from italics to plain text.

1999

February

KONAMI entered into the card game business.

March

Capital increased to 13,014million yen.

September

KONAMI was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

December

The registered office of KONAMI was transferred from Chuo-ku, Kobe to Minato-ku, Tokyo.

2000

January

KONAMI became the first Japanese company to enter the world's largest gaming machines market in the United States.

March

Capital increased to 15,793million yen.

July

The corporate name was changed from KONAMI CO., LTD. to KONAMI CORPORATION.

November

KONAMI announced a new type of financial product called "Game Fund Tokimeki Memorial".

2001

February

PEOPLE CO., LTD. (currently Konami Sports Co., Ltd.), became a KONAMI subsidiary through a friendly TOB (take over bid) and KONAMI expanded into the Sports business.

March

Capital increased to 47,399 million yen.

August

Acquired capital in Hudson Soft Company, Limited, making it an affiliated company.

2002

March

KONAMI launched e-amusement (an online service for arcade machines).

April

KONAMI's sports venues assumed the new title of "Konami Sports Club".

August

Headquarters moved to the Marunouchi Building in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

September

KONAMI was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

2003

April

KONAMI introduced a new logo on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the company's establishment.

October

KONAMI was added to the Nikkei Stock Average (Nikkei 225).

2005

June

The new office and production facility for gaming machines was built in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

2006

February

Internet Revolution, Inc. was established as a joint venture company with Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

March

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. was newly established to take over KONAMI's digital entertainment business and KONAMI CORPORATION shifted to a pure holding company.

August

KPE, Inc. started distributing pachinko slot machines.

2007

April

Headquarters moved to Tokyo Midtown in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

2008

August

Three athletes from Konami Sports Gymnastic and Swimming Team represented Japan's national squad in the 29th Olympic Games (2008/Beijing), winning medals in top places.

September

KONAMI entered into a licensing agreement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to produce and sell football (soccer) games.

2010

September

KONAMI expanded distribution of its mobile games.

November

KONAMI introduced "e-amusement Participation".

2011

January

KONAMI made ABILIT CORPORATION (currently TAKASAGO ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO., LTD.) a wholly-owned subsidiary through a share exchange.

March

Konami Sports Club Sendai Nagamachi was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

September

KONAMI acquired land accompanied by a building in Ichinomiya, Aichi (currently the Konami Group Ichinomiya Office).

December

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. was selected as a recipient of a Thomson Reuters 2011 Top 100 Global Innovator Award.

2012

March

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. absorbed Hudson Soft Company, Limited.

June

Takuya Kozuki assumed the position of President and Representative Director of KONAMI CORPORATION.

July

Four athletes from Konami Sports Gymnastic and Swimming Team represented Japan's national squad in the 30th Olympic Games (2012/London), winning a total of 6 medals including the gold medal in the men's individual all-around gymnastics event.

2013

April

Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. was relocated in Windsor, U.K., as the European headquarters.

June

KONAMI acquired land for Konami Creative Center Ginza in Chuo-ku, Tokyo.

October

The groundbreaking ceremony for the second Gaming & Systems Business Factory
was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

2014

January

KONAMI was selected for inclusion in the "JPX-Nikkei Index 400."

June

TAKASAGO ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO., LTD. began sales of pachinko machines.

August

Konami Sports Club Dancing Stars’ selected team "J.B.STAR" won the international dance competition "WORLD HIPHOP CHAMPIONSHIP 2014."

October

KONAMI celebrated its 30th listing anniversary on the stock exchange in Japan.

2015

March

Konami Business Expert Co., Ltd. was established.

September

The second Gaming & Systems Business Factory was established in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

October

KONAMI CORPORATION changed its trade name to KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION.

October

Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd. changed its trade name to Konami Sports Club Co., Ltd.

2016

April

Konami Sports Club Kumamoto was hit by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.

August

Six athletes from Konami Sports Gymnastics and Swimming Teams represented Japan's national squad in the 31st Olympic Games (2016/Rio de Janeiro), winning a total of 5 medals including the gold medal in the men’s team all-around gymnastics event.

November

KONAMI carried out a business restructuring of group companies, in the course of which Konami Amusement Co., Ltd. was established.

2017

August

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. held the Japanese eSports competition “Pawapuro Championships 2017” as an officially recognized tournament of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

2018

January

Konami Amusement (Thailand) Co., Ltd., the local subsidiary in the Kingdom of Thailand, was established.

June

Approximately 20 facilities, including Konami Sports Club Ibaraki and Kourien, were hit by the 2018 Osaka earthquake.

July

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) decided to jointly host the eBASEBALL League with all 12 NPB teams.

September

"Winning Eleven 2018" (overseas title: “PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018”) was selected as Japan’s only esports title to be played at the "18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang 2018," which was subsequently held.

2019

March

Konami Sports Club Co., Ltd. changed its trade name to Konami Sports Co., Ltd.

October

With "eFootball Winning Eleven 2020" (overseas title: "eFootball PES 2020") as the competition title, the Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship 2019 IBARAKI, which is part of the Culture Program of the 74th National Sports Festival, Iki Iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai ("Active Ibaraki Dream National Sports Festival"), was held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki.

December

KONAMI commenced its operations at the "Konami Creative Center Ginza" located in Chuo-ku, Tokyo.

2020

January

esports GINZA studio within Konami Creative Center Ginza started its operation as an esports facility, with the holding of the eBASEBALL Pro League 2019 season, the eClimax Series, and the eNippon Series co-hosted with Nippon Professional Baseball.

April

Kimihiko Higashio assumed the position of President and Representative Director of KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION.

June

The registered Head Office was transferred to 1-11-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.