After more than a year has passed since the release of Suikoden V, we still haven't heard of any news concerning a sequel-- not even a gaiden! Has Konami scrapped the series? Indeed, that's what many fans have been worrying about, and the strange silence of Konami seems to confirm our worst fears.

However, here I am to dispel these fears and tell you why I think Konami still thinks Suikoden is a "living" franchise. Let's analyze the evidence:

September 2005

This is the first time when we hear indications of Suikoden 6 already being in development. Within the Konami School Blog, which no longer exists (The URL used to be http://www.konamischool.jp/gc/archives/category2/blog/), Junko Kawano, who was in charge of Suikoden IV, is asked the question what she would do with the series after PS3 is released, and she blurts out that she would like to add subtler effects such as movements of the wind to accentuate scenes. She then says, "anything more is top secret!" She then says that the genso suikoden team is looking for talented people who want to make new things, etc.

Well, knowing that neither Rhapsodia nor Suikoden 5 was for the PS3, this indicates the possibility that Suikoden 6 was being slated for PS3 release. The fact that Suikoden 5 director Tanaka "King" confirmed that there were "two separate development teams" for the Suikoden Series would make it seem likely that Kawano is in charge of the other team, working on Suikoden 6.

With that, lets go to the next evidence:

October 2006

The mostly-reliable game info site, Magic Box, reports the following--

http://the-magicbox.com/game20061017.shtml

- Konami's Suikoden producer Takahiro Saikiyama mentioned that the development of Suikoden VI has already began, the game may have references to a previous Suikoden game.

The problem with this information though is that only Magic Box reported on it--no other sources, even in Japan, has reported the same info. However, it's very hard to simply say Magic Box made the stuff up when they mention Takahiro Sakiyama's name. It would be nice if Magic Box clarifies when and where Sakiyama said this though; that would surely make many fans a lot more happier.

One possible source for the above information is the Japanese Suikoden V official guide. Within, Sakiyama gives an interview. The interviewer asks the question, "So what do you wish to do in the next Suikoden?" (what a great question). Sakiyama answers, "I would like for it to take place at a new location, using new characters."

The Weekly Famitsu messed up bigtime when they mistakenly reported that Konami canceled their RPG development for Wii and PS3, leading to panic.

After this, no info is heard about Suikoden VI at all. Meanwhile, many fans started to get worried that perhaps the series will end. The Japanese game magazine Weekly Famitsu's error in publishing that Konami canceled all of their RPG titles for PS3 and Wii also caused a small panic. Even after they posted a small "correction" on their site later on, it required some work by fans to put out that rumor.

As for these RPG titles, Konami has had one unnamed RPG title scheduled for PS3 and Wii. The PS3 one is specifically mentioned as being a "new series," while the Wii one is only written as "unnamed RPG." This has created the speculation that Suikoden VI will be for the Wii. However, it's also possible that some spin-off would be created as a new series (much like Suikoden Tactics) and released for PS3; you never know.

There are other reasons why I'm sure why the series will continue. Konami continues to crank out Suikoden-related media at a rate that hasn't been seen in the past:

Konami has been releasing various comic anthologies for Suikoden V at a very fast pace for the past year.

1) 13 publications released in the last year
These are mostly comics focused on Suikoden V. They're not like the Suikoden 3 manga that depicted the story from beginning to end, but are anthologies of various scenes imagined by a number of artists (including those who did the official art for Suikoden V). These comics have enjoyed some success, and Konami has been cranking them out nearly at a rate of one book per month. The most recent one came out on June 30th. In terms of non-comic publications, Enterbrain (known for publishing a lot of stuff for Konami) will be publishing a new Suikoden encyclopedia which is slated for release in August. It's supposed to have only 200 or so pages though, so I don't expect it to be very extensive (although it's supposed to use B5 size paper).

Anyways, the fact that Konami is investing so much time, effort, and capital into cranking these publications out shows that they're pretty interested in keeping the fans hooked on the series. Otherwise, I don't see why they would keep making these peripheral items, which are typically made to promote the series to begin with.

The Suikoden V manga for KonamiMOBILE has so far been quite popular, and updates are numerous.

2) Digital Comics on KonamiMOBILE
Konami has hired the manga artist Mizuki Tsuge to start a manga series for KonamiMOBILE. This has been going on for a while now, and gets updated every week with a new episode, which can be read using your cell phone (as long as you're in Japan) after paying a small fee (about 300 yen / month). This manga follows the story of Suikoden V, although the author takes some creative liberty (and it seems fans generally like it).

Again, if Konami doesn't intend to continue with the series, I don't see why they would start such a feature. The cell-phone culture is quite sophisticated in Japan, and it's almost necessary these days for companies to use cell phones as a way of marketing (considering how people do everything through their cell phones in Japan). The fact that Konami is continuously marketing Suikoden seems to strongly imply that they intend to continue with the series.

3) Official Blogs
Tanaka "King" was the director and chief designer for Suikoden V, but he has been updating his official blog irregularly. In his most recent blog entry in June 25, he apologizes for not updating his blog as much as he has been in the past, saying that he has become "a lot busier these days." Maybe this is because he's become involved in some huge project, such as preparing Suikoden VI for the Tokyo Game Show scheduled in September? A number of other members of the development team have official blogs as well, which shows that Konami is trying to use multiple media to reach more fans. If the series is going to end, they probably wouldn't go to this length.

Fumi Ishikawa recently gave an interview within an obscure book on how to draw game art.

4) Suikoden development staff has been quiet
Since the release of Suikoden V, all of the major members of Suikoden development have not been involved in any other Konami titles. Sakiyama, Kawano, and Tanaka, despite being veteran developers, haven't been involved in any other projects since Suikoden V's release. The same is true with Fumi Ishikawa, who did the art for Suikoden II and III. Despite rumors that she may have quit Konami, it has been confirmed in a recent interview she gave in a book about art & design technique that she still does work there. Other less important (in terms of where they are within the corporate ladder) members have been involved in some other projects, such as Yamane, but other's such as Tsuchiya (who has been involved since Suikoden II) hasn't been seen at all within the staff rolls of other Konami games.

Along with comments by Sakiyama and Tanaka that they are both "extremely busy," one can assume that they are working on some huge project. This project is likely Suikoden VI or a Suikoden spin-off of some kind. Based on the members who have been uninvolved in other projects, its hard to imagine that these people are working on anything other than Suikoden.

With all that said, and based on uncorroborated rumors I have heard from anonymous media sources, it seems nearly undisputable that Suikoden VI is already being developed. It can also be said that there is a very high possibility Suikoden VI will be announced shortly before the next Tokyo Game Show (September 20th-23rd), so we may see something even as early as this August.

Discussion Thread for This Topic