Konami has a new project in the works, that’s receiving a lot of unmerited speculation.
As reported by Gematsu, Konami has filed for the trademark “Project Zircon” in Japan, dated last March 7, 2023.
Gematsu also speculated that zircon is a jewel in the Castlevania video game series, but other outlets have run with that idea for no real good reason.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, the trademark filing covers console games, arcade machines, and prize-winning game machines. That is customary for trademark filings like these, but it also indicates that Project Zircon may not be related to any console games at all.
Just to address the Castlevania rumor firsthand, Zircon is a jewel that can be found in games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. It is the least valuable jewel that you can find, so common that players have no use for it but to sell it, for low prices to boot. In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, it is notable only for having a passing resemblance to Diamond, which is the most valuable jewel in the game, in stark contrast.
Zircon does not hold any particular significance in the Castlevania video games, in the context of gameplay or in its greater narrative. There is really no good reason to believe this has anything to do with Castlevania.
Humorously enough, Twitter user GynobyteWolf pointed out in response to Gematsu that there is another zircon related property under Konami’s library: Yu-Gi-Oh. Gem-Knight Zirconia is a monster card in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG, both a Rock Monster and a Gem-Type Monster. It even appears in the anime Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V, as part of the deck of Julia Krystal.
In any case, these trademarks often do not hint at what the actual product or service in production actually is. Konami is a bigger company than its video game related businesses. Its other business include health and fitness, banking, and golf.
Now, the filing was specifically from Konami Digital Entertainment, but that doesn’t narrow this down to a video game related product. Konami Digital’s business segments outside of console games include mobile games and apps, card games (aka Yu-Gi-Oh, movies, video, and music related to video games, and Web3 projects.
So yes, for better or not, this could be an upcoming NFT project. Or it could have something to do with crypto or DAOs, or any combination of them.
In fact, it could end up being something we would have no interest in as well, such as simply a new segment of their pachinko machine business. Whatever the case, the rumors of an upcoming Castlevania game can be taken on their own merits, without connecting it to this.
