Konami is trying out something interesting, their new game Project Zircon showed a new teaser during the Konami Press Start stream on Thursday. It is a dark fantasy deckbuilding roguelike. Steam has a page. PC is the only platform listed. No release date.
Producer Shiro walked the loop in the developer reel. You are head of state. The Calamity Dragon of the Abyss is coming back. Fail a yearly quota and the dragon eats the world. Clear five in-game years and you get the normal route boss. Other endings sit behind events and choices, not just a bigger army. Check out the teaser trailer below:
Each year splits in two phases.
Strategy Phase is prep. Expand territory. Buy Character Cards and Facilities. Spend three currencies: commerce, industry, culture. The board is where you place those cards. Deck makeup changes every run.
Admin Phase is the year you actually play. Characters have types and levels. They combo with buildings. You can socket up to three Zircon abilities in a deck at once for extra actions and buffs. Seasons tick. The target for that year still has to be hit.
Japanese materials say the story branches hard. Some endings need conditions that are not “beat the dragon with enough military points.” Level up across runs and you unlock more building types and starting decks, so the next five-year plan does not have to copy the last one.
Steams synopsis for the game is shorter. Recruit character cards. Construct facilities. Build a new strategy every run. Save the world from the resurrected Calamity Dragon of the Abyss. Wishlist plus a Japan-side retweet campaign is handing out shirts. That is the marketing layer. The game seems to have Slay the Spire logic pointed at a nation sim: if the year-end score is short, the run dies.
Project Zircon did not start as a Steam roguelike. Konami revealed it in September 2023 as a cross-media web3 project. Tabletop games, murder mystery sessions, novels, and manga followed. A video game was announced in September 2025. Thursday’s teaser is the first real look at that game as a deckbuilder you can wishlist.
No console details revealed. No mobile client in this drop. No price. No early access window. No English voice list. Combat footage in the teaser is board placement and year goals, not an action game wearing a card UI.
Konami’s live slate is usually filled with Castlevania, Metal Gear, Yu-Gi-Oh, and soccer. A five-year dark-fantasy nation builder is a different bet. The genre is crowded. Slay The Spire 2 is already in early access. Balatro already ate the score-chaser lane. However those have been out for a minute and Zircon’s hook is the calendar: five years, two phases, three resources, three Zircon slots, a dragon in year five, and endings that ignore the dragon.
Wishlist is open. The release date is not known yet. The next useful drop is a release date for development or a closed beta, so we will have to stay tuned for that.
Are you wishlisting Project Zircon for the nation-builder loop, or is five years of admin phase a skip? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.