Konami to "dissolve" Hudson Soft

By Fred Dutton Published 17 January, 2012

Veteran Japanese developer consigned to history.

Veteran Japanese game developer Hudson Soft is to be formally dissolved on 1st March, owner Konami has announced.

As reported by Andriasang, the publisher issued notice of the impending action today, stating that Hudson will be absorbed into Konami Digital Entertainment.

Hudson board members apparently agreed on the move during a meeting held on 12th January.

Konami bought a majority share in the struggling developer in April 2005, stating that it "expects its acquisition of additional shares will strengthen Hudson's net worth and will support and enhance its organisation."

Hudson, founded way back in 1973, counted Bomberman, Bonk, Star Soldier and Adventure Island among its IPs. It also frequently worked as a studio for hire, for example, developing the Mario Party series for Nintendo.

Konami hasn't confirmed if it intends to maintain any Hudson franchises.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 4 months ago

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  • Kami #1 4 months ago

    RIP Hudson, and thanks for a great many things - what a pity we may never see Bloody Roar again...

    I propose a minutes silence.

  • mr2ange #2 4 months ago

    Nooo not the bomberman guys, Still one of the best head-2-head games

    You will be missed :(

  • deez #3 4 months ago

    That bee was a hero back when I had my pc engine, a real shame.

  • FenderMaster #4 4 months ago

    End of an era... Bomberman is among millions of gamers fondest gaming memories, and while they may not have been the brighest star in recent generations, their loss is still quite a sad one.

    Hope Konami can keep on most of the staff and everyone lands on their feet.

    Thanks for the fun times and great memories Hudson!
    Edited by FenderMaster at 17/01/12 @ 18:28

  • Mr.DNA #5 4 months ago

    Thank you for Faxanadu, Hudson Soft. Thank you very much indeed.

  • abigsmurf #6 4 months ago

    Makes you wonder why on earth Konami bought them...

    Still, Hudson Soft hadn't really done enough for a number of years other than do fairly uninspired versions of old franchises. Spent many hours on multiplayer Super Bomberman as a wee one so I'll always look back on them fondly though.

  • MrVengeance #7 4 months ago

    No mention of its role in developing and supporting the superb PC Engine console during the late 80s/early 90s? Surely the publisher's golden era.

    Ten player Saturn Bomberman really was something too.


    The games industry is changing and these big names are disappearing or restructuring at an alarming rate. I'm genuinely concerned for the likes of SNK Playmore and Nippon Ichi going forward....

  • Jay1983 #8 4 months ago

    RIP Hudson.
    The amount of hours i spent on Bomberman 64.

  • el_pollo_diablo #9 4 months ago

    If there were any justice in the world it'd be Konami changing their name to Hudson.

    Farewell little bee logo :(
    Edited by el_pollo_diablo at 17/01/12 @ 23:34

  • abigsmurf #10 4 months ago

    @MrVengeance NI are apparently doing much better now.

    They went a year with no high profile releases outside of Disgaea 3 which was seen as a pretty lazy effort (Sprites which were low res at 480p looked shocking in HD).

  • AnotherIdiot #11 4 months ago

    So they bought a majority share and then shut them down, not only that they wont say about maintaining franchises... great work

  • rock27gr #12 4 months ago

    Why dissolve it? Surely keeping the core team as part of Konami and keeping the name makes more sense. Sort of like Team Ninja is part of Tecmo.

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #13 4 months ago

    March 1st will be a sad day; so many great memories of multiplayer SNES Bomberman and the sequels. Not to mention the PC Engine games they released. Anyone for a bit of Kato and Ken?

  • MattEdWithCheese #14 4 months ago

    Strangely the TurboGrafx/PCE Games on The virtual console were some of the best, some great shmups would love to see them on the 3ds.

    It's also what got me into the Ys series, anyone who's interested in good action RPGs early cd-rom gaming should play Ys Book I & II!

  • Kaminari #15 4 months ago

    As a long-geezer fan of the legendary NEC PC Engine (developed by Hudson Soft), this news makes my heart bleed. And to think that Konami was saved from impending bankrupcy in 1994 thanks to Tokimeki Memorial on the PCE... Rats.

  • jonsaan #16 4 months ago

    Slitherlink. Was that Hudson?

  • deez #17 4 months ago

    @JAGUARCD32x great question, but no idea!

  • Praetorianer #18 4 months ago

    If I turn around I see all those PC Engine games with my favorite bee on them...thanks to all who ever worked at Hudson.

  • Slamhound #19 4 months ago

    Farewell, old friends. You'll be missed.

  • dorkacle #20 4 months ago

    They the same company that did a few mobile titles relatively recently? Nothing special to be honest, cant remember the game names even which probably says a lot. Think I had an old samsung with a couple of games on it, didn't even purchase them mind, they came on the phone. A little blue bee? i thought it was a fly ha :eek:

  • dr_faulk #21 4 months ago

    I read "Hudson Soft" and think "Mean Machines"...

  • bemani247 #22 4 months ago

    Saturn Bomberman was my fave, hopefully Konami will keep the IPs alive

  • Laythe_AD #23 4 months ago

    Nooooo :( No more Bloody Roar. No more Bomber Man :(

  • neilka #24 4 months ago

    Bummer, man.

  • ubergine #25 4 months ago

    Game over, Man, game over.

  • Totoriko #26 4 months ago

    Adventure Island :(

  • SuperBas #27 4 months ago

    It's sad news, and I love Bomberman, but Mario Party was the biggest piece of shit I ever bought for my N64. It's like you were getting blue shelled every turn.

  • makariel #28 4 months ago

    Awwww :(

    I remember how we're taking turns playing Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu on the NES, and that was still nothing compared to the madness which is Bomberman!

    Sad day

  • Darklightside #29 4 months ago

    R.I.P Hudson soft Bomberman, Adventure Island, BC Kid, Far East of Eden, all now look to be over it's very sad. Even Konami seem to be a former shadow of themselves what happened to the like of Gradius, Paradius, Pop n Twinbee, Contra, All they seem to do now is metal gear, PES and Castlevania.

    One of the problems has been the merging of studios the more developers like square have bought the less the others have to compete with it a shame and seems to show the sad decline of the japanese games industry.

  • Tyronne #30 4 months ago

    All this and no mention of `Eric and the floaters`?..SHAME I say!

  • kingmancheng #31 4 months ago

    I hope Bomberman and Bonk lives on.

    I really want another Bonk game. :(

  • atrb79 #32 4 months ago

    Shame. On the plus side I can't imagine they'll kill off Bomberman. It did pretty good business on XBLA didn't it?

  • anthonypappa #33 4 months ago

    "BY(E) HUD-I-SON!!!"
    Edited by anthonypappa at 18/01/12 @ 10:31

  • Ceelion #34 4 months ago

    Thanks for making one of my all time favourite games in Saturn Bomberman.

    You will be sorely missed, but forever remembered as a decent developer

  • vizzini #35 4 months ago

    If someone from Konami is reading this thread, might I suggest your first task as owner of the Bomberman Kart IP is to port Bomberman Kart PS2 version to Android and optimised for Xperia Play, swiftly followed by a HD remake of the game with 4player support for PS3/360 and useable on Vita.

    The music from the first and second tracks in the first Grand Prix are really great, and well worth reusing for future Konami games where they fit. Had a little go of the Single player yesterday using the PS3's PS2 emulator and loved it again like it was on the PS2, except for the occasional bit of choppy-frame caused by the emulator.

    edit: links
    Edited by vizzini at 18/01/12 @ 13:17

  • CatWeazle #36 4 months ago

    Oh dear what a shame :(

    I spent soo many hours playing "Eric and the Floaters" on the Speccy.. and only later, after getting into Bomberman on the SNES & Amiga, did I realise that Eric was an early Hudson game - I'd thought that Bomberman had stolen the idea!

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0001639

    RIP

  • RMPage #37 4 months ago

    As much as I don't like hearing about this (I've loved me some Bomberman since I first played it back on the SNES) I've gotta say that Hudson really has collected -metaphorically speaking - quite a few sabot powerdowns. Not a good combo when you've got power bombs.