Konami is going big to shake Suikoden's status as a niche-yet-beloved JRPG series. To bring it to as many people as possible, the developer is following up two remasters with a mobile game, anime, stage play, concert, and manga. And that's just the start, as it sounds like Konami would happily do much more.
Speaking to Bloomberg, series producer Rui Naito says the multi-media push was partly made possible by fans in the Japanese anime, theater, and music industries who wanted to aid in Suikoden's revival. In fact, had Naito encountered such a fan in Hollywood, we could have gotten even more Suikoden goodness.
"If possible, I would also like to have Suikoden in Hollywood," Naito says. "So if you have any friends in Hollywood, please let us know."
The reception to all of that could aid some hope for Suikoden 6, too. Naito says he remained friends with series creator Yoshitaka Murayama after his departure from Konami until his recent passing. The two often chatted about "how to potentially expand on the series."
"Right now, my main goal is to make Murayama proud," Naito said. "And I do hope we can expand the series beyond where it ended."
Bloomberg notes that Naito doesn't expand on the thought further regarding what's next in the future, though there's enough Suikoden 6 hopium there to sustain us for a hot minute, I reckon.
That said, he does share a hope to bring the new mobile game Suikoden: Star Leap to other platforms. Plenty of fans are somewhat cold on the game due to its gacha systems, though Naito insists you'll be able to unlock the main characters through the story, itself something he hopes stands alongside other entries in the series. As ever, we need only wait and see.
As Suikoden returns from the dead, Konami wants the cult JRPG classic to "become a huge title that can rival other AAA" games.
