MGS4 Delay Hurts More Than Just Fans

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Author: Ben Karl
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Judging by Konami's drastic loss of stock value, it seems that MGS4's delay is the worst thing to happen to Konami in four years.

As always the delay of a highly anticipated game sends waves of frustration through the gaming community. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, one of the most, if not the most, anticipated games of 2007-2008, has had it's release pushed back from Q1 2008 to Q2 2008. At most that's a three month delay, which is tolerable. Considering Kojima's track record I think most of us gamers are willing to cut the developer some slack.

Unfortunately for Konami, gamers aren't the only people they need to please. Kojima may face some nasty fan mail, but that's nothing compared to the sharp teeth of investors who, essentially, can drown the entire project in debt. Such repercussions were felt this morning as the delay of MGS4 caused hundreds of Konami stock holders to sell their shares. Bloomberg reports:

"Konami shares fell 6.8 percent to 3,160 yen at the 11 a.m. break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.8 percent. Shares of Tokyo-based Konami had the largest drop since Dec. 8, 2003."

The reason for the delay is speculated. Konami states that the delay will allow them to produce a product that meets the expectations of everyone. This is probably very true, but some think that the delay was strategically meant to boost earnings for the next fiscal year. Konami expected to sell about 1 million copies before March 31 (end of fiscal year). So I'm sure the decision to delay MGS4, while making it better, and saving the million or so initial sales for the following fiscal year, was an easy one.

Mitsubishi UFJ analyst Hirotoshi Murakami has placed a "strong outperform" rating on Konami's stock, which, if I'm not mistaken, is an indication to buy. I don't know the first thing about trading stocks, but I imagine that Konami stock holders are going to be pretty happy when this game finally drops - as will I.

Hey, Thanks: Joystiq

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