It has recently been speculated that Wayforward and Konami may be working together on a new installment of Konami’s iconic run-and-gun series, Contra. For those who are unfamiliar, Contra is a long-running video game brand that was created by Konami and released for the NES and arcades in the late ’80s.
The game’s run-and-gun mechanics and cooperative two-player mode helped propel it to fame. There have been several games in this series, however, it has fallen by the wayside alongside other iconic Konami intellectual properties like Castlevania. However, it seems like there may be a new game being developed in tandem with Wayforward Technologies.
The Shantae games have made Wayforward, an independent developer and publisher, quite well-known in recent years. However, the developer has also been rather active in recent years, with a number of projects and partnerships seeing publication. A complete replica of Nintendo’s Advance Wars duology is among these games, and it’s scheduled for release in late April.
Glenn Seidel, a former employee of Wayforward, is credited with working on the gameplay, narrative, and characters for a “historic shooter property” in 2020 and ’21 on his LinkedIn profile. Aside from that, he oversaw multiple aspects of an unannounced “AAA shooter of an existing franchise,” which features four unique gameplay modes and includes post-launch live operations including a scoreboard and a challenge system, and more.
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The profile lists these categories, which include run-and-gun games, top-down shooters, side-scrolling shooters, and shmups and rail guns. Fans have theorized that these elements are consistent with the Contra series’ arcade-like and multifaceted gameplay mechanisms.
Wayforward and Konami have worked together before, in 2007 on Contra 4 for the Nintendo DS, thus there is precedent for this partnership. Due to Contra’s extensive backstory, fans agree that the rumored sequel or remake would be the most logical course of action. However, some have speculated that it could be yet another team-up with Nintendo.
The final installment, 2019’s Contra: Rogue Corps, was met with lukewarm to unfavorable reviews from fans and critics alike. However, with Konami’s return to the gaming world with a bevy of Silent Hill-related projects, it’s possible that Contra will follow suit.
It’s possible it was meant to be shown during E3, but Konami canceled the entire event. Whether or not the report about Konami and Wayforward turns out to be true remains to be seen by eager fans.
