Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Konami still insists that Hideo Kojima works there, despite more reports to the contrary

By

1154832 autosave v1 kojima
Image used with permission by copyright holder
After months of heated rumors, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has finally left Konami. That is according to a recent report published in The New Yorker. Konami, on the other hand, has refuted the report, and claims that Kojima is still employed there, and is merely “on vacation” for the time being.

Simon Parkin, who wrote the New Yorker story, afterwards tweeted an image supposedly from Kojima’s farewell party on Oct. 9, provided to him by “a source at Konami.”

Recommended Videos

Here is a photograph of Kojima's farewell party on October 9th at Konami, which Konami claims no knowledge of: pic.twitter.com/xgRUoYs5qt

— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) October 20, 2015

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Kotaku pressed Konami about Kojima’s departure and the supposed farewell party, but with no success. Komani spokespeople held that “currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid V and are taking along time off from work.” As for the party, the official word is that Konami is “not sure what kind of thing this was.” To be fair, it could have been some sort of production wrap celebration, or a vacation send-off.

Related

Months of mounting evidence from a variety of sources, however, corroborates the story that Kojima’s contract with Konami will expire in December of this year, at which point his non-compete clause will expire as well, freeing him up to found or join a new studio and get back to making overblown, cinematic masterpieces. Konami, on the other hand, seems to be reducing the scope of its vision. In May the publisher’s new president told Japanese paper Nikkei that “mobile is where the future of gaming lies.” Then in August Konami announced that it is developing pachinko machines based on its popular franchises like Silent Hill and Castlevania. The shift toward casual and mobile games is indicative of larger trends in the Japanese gaming industry, according to several developers who spoke with Parkin for The New Yorker.

“We’ve seen the end of the console-game market in Japan,” said Ryan Payton, who worked for Konami between 2005 and 2008. “Even by the time Metal Gear Solid IV shipped, in 2008, I felt like our team was one of just a handful of Japan-based developers who were still fighting to produce blockbuster games.” Blockbuster releases in the west from Japan have been exceptions, meaning that to Japanese industry insiders, Konami’s dismantling of Kojima Productions was not terribly surprising.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Will Fulton
Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
If you need a relaxing holiday vacation game, download this one
Key art for LOK Digital.

This has been the busiest December for games in recent memory. This month alone, we’ve seen the massive launches of Marvel Rivals, Infinity Nikki, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Those games have probably sucked up all of your time and attention, and that’s on top of The Game Awards 2024 flooding gaming spaces with several new announcements. That has caused games like LOK Digital, which launched in the thick of all this, to fly under the radar.

LOK Digital is one of the best puzzle games released in a year full of outstanding ones. It’s a glorified word search for a fictional alien language, but it's also ridiculously clever in how it bends its own rules to create some head-scratching puzzles. LOK Digital is a fitting game for the holidays, something that you can easily install and play on a laptop while hanging out with friends or family. It’s also a reminder to look outside the traditional gaming zeitgeist in its busiest moments. That’s often where some true hidden gems are waiting to be discovered.

Read more
This Capcom bundle is the best deal of the Steam Winter Sale
Key art of Okami HD.

So much is discounted during this Steam Winter Sale that it can be hard to decide what to pick up. If you're one of those people and are also someone who enjoys games that aren't afraid to experiment with their gameplay mechanics and visual aesthetics, then I have the perfect bundle for you. It's the Okami + Kunitsu-Gami Bundle, which nets you a Capcom classic that just had a sequel announced at The Game Awards as well as one of the year's most underrated titles. Pick this bundle up for $40 and you'll get two wildly creative, beautiful video game experiences for the price of one.

Okami HD - Launch Trailer (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Read more
Sega could release its own game subscription service
Old Sonic runs away from Metal Sonic in Sonic Generations X Shadow.

Between Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, and even Nintendo Switch Online, it feels like every company has its own subscription. Throw in Ubisoft+, EA Play, and multiple other companies and you have a veritable free-for-all. Now, Sega's new president, Shuji Utsumi, says the beloved company is considering a similar offer, although he remained tight-lipped on details.

In an interview with the BBC, Utsumi said, "We're thinking something — and discussing something — we cannot disclose right now," he said. The statement followed Utsumi saying the subscription services were "very interesting."

Read more