Konami recently renewed the trademark protection of Zone of the Enders at the European Patent and Trademark Office. It is currently unclear what plans the Japanese company is pursuing with this step.
Over the past few years, fans have been campaigning for a comeback for the Zone of the Enders series – unfortunately in vain so far. The fact that Konami recently decided to renew the trademark protection of the same title at the European Patent and Trademark Office EUIPO could provide new hope these days.
Since an official statement on this subject is still a long way off, it remains to be seen which goals the Japanese publisher is pursuing with this step. However, the corresponding speculations have been taken care of.
On the one hand, it would of course be conceivable that we are dealing here with a purely precautionary measure with which Konami would like to ensure that the trademark rights to Zone of the Enders do not expire. However, as early as 2018, the company pointed out that it would definitely be open to a return of the Zone of the Enders brand.
On the occasion of the publication of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS, the project manager responsible at that time, Kenichi Kondo, stated: “I want the next title to happen, and I want it to be as interesting as possible. Even within the company there are a lot of Zone of the Enders fans, so if it’s possible, the series will take some form. Of course, I don’t know if it will be Zone of the Enders 3 or Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner 2, or something completely different, but I would like to put out the next entry if we can.”
Of course, these statements should not be understood as the official announcement of a successor. So we have no choice but to wait and see how things develop over the coming months and keep our fingers crossed.
