Konami has shown interest in the gaming space again with its recent Silent Hill revival. Reports have swirled around alleging that that initiative is also being applied to Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania. This is potentially even further backed up with a new trademark that appears to have some connections to the fantastical, vampire-rich franchise.
As noted by Gematsu, Konami applied for a trademark on March 7 (which was published on March 15) for something called Project Zircon. It’s obviously a temporary a name and nothing else in the trademark points to any specific title. It also might not even be a video game, as it has many descriptions that both can be applied to games (like “game software” and “game program”) and can’t (like “money changer” and “ticket issuing machine”).
However, zircon is a jewel found in the Castlevania series and is strangely the least valuable one. It first appeared in 1997’s seminal Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as the Sparkling Ring and later showed up in the PlayStation 2’s Lament of Innocence and Order of Ecclesia on the DS.
It is a faint link that grows a little stronger in the context of the aforementioned reports. Video Games Chronicle reported in October 2021 that Konami was reviving Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and Silent Hill. The outlet, after the Silent Hill portion of the report turned out to be accurate, then came out with another report in February stating that Konami is going to have a big E3 and will likely show a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake and new Castlevania.
Konami also recently responded to the desire for more Castlevania in an interview with IGN, which came to light of Dead Cells‘ recent Castlevania-focused expansion Return to Castlevania. Tsutomu Taniguchi, Konami’s Return to Castlevania supervisor, acknowledged the “excitement and enthusiasm of the fans online” and said that it was “really motivating for [Konami].”
There has been a precedent for crossover DLC sowing seeds for full games in the past for Konami, as Silent Hill DLC came to Dead by Daylight in 2020, which preceded the Silent Hill revival by a few years.
