Nearly ten years have passed since Konami's last Castlevania game hit the market, and supporters are growing increasingly restless with the game developer's lack of activity. Nevertheless, recent developments within the studio suggest that Konami might finally have something to offer its fans.
Gematsu, a Japanese game news publisher, observed that the multinational video game company filed a new trademark for "Project Zircon" last week. The trademark information suggests that it will be used in multiple areas, such as "software for commercial video game machines." While there's no additional information available, it's interesting the trademark bears a striking resemblance to an iconic item that's prevalent in the Castlevania franchise.
People familiar with the franchise will recognize the term Zircon, a jewel in the game series. It's frequently confused with a diamond. This jewel initially appeared in the 1997 PlayStation game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and has since been featured in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.
However, it's worth noting that the assumption that the Project Zircon trademark suggests the release of a new Castlevania game remains purely speculative. The trademark application includes provisions for its use in arcade machines and other types of "commercial prize-winning game machines," as well. This is similar to when Konami filed a new trademark for Zone of the Enders in 2020, but even after two years, they're yet to make any significant developments related to the popular space-combat game franchise.
Despite Konami's best efforts to work on compilations of older titles like The Cowabunga Collection as well as Castlevania Advance Collection, progress on most of its major titles, including Metal Gear Solid, has been stagnant. Thankfully, the game developer recently decided to license some of its game IPs to external studios.
Last year, Konami revealed that a remake of the 2001 survival horror game, Silent Hill 2, was in development. Bloober Team, the Polish studio best known for Layers of Fear and The Medium, is developing the game, which will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive for the first 12 months.
