Super Bomberman R, the Bomberman franchise’s first mainline game in a decade, might be getting some sort of multimedia expansion handled by 4K Media Inc. The Frogger and Contra rights were also granted to the Konami subsidiary.
4K Media’s exhibitor page for the upcoming Licensing Expo 2018 was recently updated with the gaming properties they handle outside of Japan, which now include Bomberman, Contra, and Frogger from Konami’s IPs apart from Yu-Gi-Oh!. What’s interesting is that Super Bomberman R is listed separately from the main Bomberman franchise, which may hint at IP expansion.
4K Media Inc. is a Konami-owned group that was acquired and renamed from 4Kids Productions. Currently, they mainly handle distribution and dubbing for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, including the 2017 film Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions, and the TV series Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.
The Bomberman franchise has had three different anime adaptations in the past, with the most recent being Bomberman Jetters which ran from 2002-2003.
Apart from Super Bomberman R being the first revival in a decade, the game was recently announced to be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with exclusive characters. Konami president Shobo Hayagawa also revealed recently that the game will soon reach 1 million copies shipped just by the Nintendo Switch version alone.
For Frogger and Contra, it is interesting that these were the chosen IPs for 4K Media to handle, and could hint at some sort of revival as well. Last October, we reported that Contra is getting a live action movie and TV drama series.
Keep in mind that this is a possibility, and not confirmed in any manner. As 4K Media Inc. is a subsidiary of Konami, and that Super Bomberman R is the latest game, the title may have been listed separately to highlight it for attendees. Alternatively, 4K Media may have handled the dub for the game. For Frogger and Contra, 4K Media may just be handling licensing and distribution for older titles in the series.
Super Bomberman R is available for Nintendo Switch, and will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 12, 2018 in the US and June 14, 2018 globally. The PC version launches via Steam on June 13, 2018.
