Kojima officially leaves Konami to form own studio; first game will be collaboration with Sony

[midian182]

It has been coming for a long time, and yesterday it was finally confirmed: Hideo Kojima has officially left Konami. The creative mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid series departed the game studio along with his assistant Ayako Terashima and Metal Gear producer Kenichiro Imaizumi. Kojima will now develop games for his own independent studio, Kojima Productions, the first of which will be made in collaboration with PlayStation.

This year has been a turbulent one for Kojima and Konami. It started with the company removing his name and logo from MGSV promotional material and culminated in the studio preventing him from attending the recent Game Awards. The precise nature of what caused the dispute is still not totally clear, although rumors suggest it is partly related to Konami’s shift in focus to mobile gaming and gambling machines.

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— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 16, 2015

We have no idea what the first game from Kojima Productions will be, other than it is “console exclusive to PlayStation 4 System” and will be made in collaboration with Sony’s video game arm. But the wording of the statement does suggest that the new game could also appear on the PC.

“I will be taking on a new challenge by establishing my own independent studio, and I am thrilled to be able to embark on this journey with PlayStation, who I have continued to work with all these past years,” Hideo Kojima said in a statement. “I cannot wait to deliver, with PlayStation, a game that will become a compelling franchise.”

Konami hangs on to the rights for Metal Gear Solid, and in all likelihood will now be seeking out a new development team for the games. It seems that Kojima’s time working on the greatest stealth series of this generation has officially come to a close. Here’s hoping Kojima Productions will go on to produce a franchise just as iconic.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63160-kojima-officially-leaves-konami-form-own-studio-first.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Change of often for the better, especially when management takes on the role of "creative criticue" for the purpose of profit over anything else. Creativity sometimes needs some tempering; if allowed to run wild it can do as much harm as good so a mutual split will probably be best for both parties. What remains is to see how the old company will continue moving forward with a winning game and of course, how the new creative energies focus on new products. Enough said, now get to it!

 

[Myth1337]

Great! This could mean the next MGS game have the same brilliant gameplay without the cheesy overacted "story". Good things ahead.

 

[robb213]

I'm glad he's moving on, but would really like to know more about the ordeal. But he doesn't strike me as a person who let's the past bother him, so we may still never know.

Sony is smart for grabbing his first game out as an exclusive, but I'm very disappointed it'll be an exclusive and I won't be able to play it. Oh well...funny thing is exclusives barely move the consoles at all anyways.

 

[Puiu]

I expected Kojima to work with Sony after he was finished with Konami, but I never would have expected them to join hands so fast. It must have been something decided by both parties for quite some time now. (he even had a t-shirt with his new logo)

 

[DAOWAce]

Should've been a free man on PC.. Gone indie.

Oh well.