Kojima in a 2001 photo taken in Konami’s office tower.
Further update: In a follow-up statement from Konami, Kojima is quoted as saying, “I want to reassure fans that I am 100% committed and will continue to work on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; I’m determined to make it the best game I’ve directed to date. Do not miss it!”
The new statement again leaves Kojima out of discussions about the next one Metal gear game, and mentions conducting interviews for new staff to lead that development.
Update: In a tweet on the new officer Metal gear Twitter account, Konami has assured fans that “despite rumors, MGSV:TPP-written, designed, directed and produced by Mr.Kojima [sic] is still on schedule. The team is hard at work. Please support them!”
Meanwhile, the publisher has reconfirmed in a separate statement on the Konami website Metal Gear Solid V‘s planned release date of September 2 and promised “Hideo Kojima will be involved all the way.”
The statement also assures that Konami will retain the rights to “Metal Gear” going forward (something that was never really questioned), and has already committed to another title in the series. Kojima’s involvement in That the future title is going significantly unnoticed, with Konami saying it will be holding “auditions for the main staff to lead the game’s development”, suggesting a change in leadership for the series is on the way.
While this new statement is a good indication that Kojima will not be parting ways with Konami immediately, it does little to diminish the impression that he will leave the company soon after. Metal Gear Solid V is complete.
Original story
Some strange moves by Japanese publisher Konami and studio Kojima Productions seem to point in the direction of fame Metal Gear solid CEO Hideo Kojima is leaving his old parent company or at least moving to a completely different role within the company.
The rumors started when Internet forum visitors noticed that Kojima is no longer listed as an executive on Konami’s company page (although he is still listed as “Executive Content Officer” in the site’s Company Profile section). Earlier this month, Konami announced it was restructuring to “a headquarters-controlled system,” with some new divisions and new titles for longtime executives, though Kojima would not be affected by that move at the time.
In addition, the Kojima Productions web page and Twitter accounts now redirects users to more common ones Metal Gear solid portals, without any Kojima branding. The studio known as Kojima Productions Los Angeles since last month mainly worked on metal gear onlineis now also called Konami Los Angeles Studio on the website.
As if that wasn’t enough weirdness, the official web pages for a number of Kojima games, including Metal Gear Solid V, Affected areas, And Legacy collection have been updated to remove the usual notes indicating they are “Presented by Kojima Productions” and “A Hideo Kojima Game” (archived versions showing this brand name are available here and here).
As this shook it all up, Gamespot quotes an unnamed “inside source” as reporting that Kojima Studios will likely disband after work on Metal Gear Solid V has been completed and the current contract expires in December. Gamespot’s source also reports that Kojima Studios’ employees are now essentially contractors with limited access to Konami resources.
Konami offered a brief statement to Eurogamer and VideoGamer.com, stating simply that “Konami Digital Entertainment, including Mr. Kojima, will continue to develop and support Metal gear Products. Look forward to future announcements.” That’s technically a denial that Kojima has left the company, but not the strongest possible statement that things are working normally at Konami (the publisher has yet to respond to a request for comment from Ars).
So far this all adds up to a lot of smoke, but we’re still not sure if there’s actually a fire here. It’s possible that Kojima and Konami are indeed on the verge of splitting, but it’s also possible that everyone is over-interpreting the public signs of an internal restructuring that simply swallows Kojima’s branded sub-studio into greater oversight of the main company.
Even if Kojima leaves Konami after a decades-long career there, it’s still unclear whose decision it was to break off the relationship. Kojima himself has been publicly silent about it, but the designer tweeted the cryptic message “Heading off” a few days ago, next to an image of Snake boarding a helicopter.
The enigmatic director is not above the public’s fakes to obscure his true direction: the game that was Metal Gear Solid V was originally announced as an unrelated project called The phantom painand Kojima’s involvement in the upcoming reboot Silent hills was hidden deep in a “playable trailer” called PT Kojima has also implied several times that he was done working Metal Gear solid over the last 15 years, but now continues to lead the series across four PlayStation systems (with plans to bring the series back to PC this year as well).
It’s a very strange situation, and one that we still have a hard time understanding. For now, you know what we know, and we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.