Solomon Program, a new monster-battler from Konami is Switch bound

Could this be Konami’s comeback game?

Despite the lack of real attention to the video games market over the last few years, Japanese publisher Konami has announced that they are to release a brand new IP exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

Named Solomon Program, the game was announced by Manga publisher CoroCoro Online at the same time as a manga supporting the new game, and first reported by Gematsu. While details are thin on the ground, the game appears to be a turn-based monster battler with attacks made by using machine inputs. At the same time, there is also elements of monster collecting reminiscent of Nintendo’s Pokémon.

Konami has been very reluctant to scale up any video game development in recent years following a tighter focus on its pachinko machine manufacturing business arm. Aside from yearly updates to the Pro Evolution Soccer series and a small smattering of games such as 2019’s disappointing Contra: Rogue Corps and 2017s Super Bomberman R, Konami has kept its distance from developing large games or introducing any new franchises.

However, with the potential that comes with a monster collecting game, as Pokémon has proven in the past, this new franchise could be what’s needed to encourage Konami back into the video game sector again.

While there is no news of a release date, a demo code of the game is set to be included with the special edition of MiraCoro Comic, which is where the manga adaptation of the game is set to be released and is due on Jan 17 in Japan. This could point towards a release for 2020 in Japan, with a possible western release later this year.