Kojima to leave Konami after MGS V

[kaputt]

A fallout between Kojima Productions and its owning publisher, Konami, has led to senior staff at the studio being restricted access to corporate internet, emails, and phone, GameSpot understands.

 

(...)

Power struggles between Kojima Productions and Konami have convinced the publisher to make drastic changes, including amending the employee status of its Metal Gear team. Some senior staff at the studio, including Kojima, now essentially work as contractors, not permanent employees.

(...)

"After we finish MGSV, Mr. Kojima and upper management will leave Konami. They said their contract ends in December," the source claimed.

The person added: "At a team meeting, Mr Kojima explained that team have to be one and make a good game for fans."

In other developments, Konami has begun removing the Kojima Productions logo from all official Metal Gear art, and it has removed Kojima from its executive team. Meanwhile, Kojima Productions’ branding has also been removed from Twitter, the official Metal Gear website, and even the LA office listing.

 

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/kojima-expected-to-leave-konami-after-mgs5-inside-/1100-6426024/

 

I hope Silent Hills sees the light of day somehow, but I'm not sure after this. Damn. 

 

 

[Henroid]

Excuse me for not believing any rumors related to Kojima. Because over the last twenty years there's been rumors surrounding that guy all the time, and/or the work he does. Practically none of them have come true.

[JonCole]

Honestly, if he's not going to make Metal Gear Acid 3 then I could care less about Kojima leaving.

 

Kinda joking but mostly serious.

[Bjorn]

Huh, that reads as considerably more dire than anything previously though.  Everything I remember from years before is mostly just Kojima saying he's thinking about leaving once X project is finished. 

[Reyturner]

suuuuuuuuuuuure

 

I'll believe Kojima is done with MG when he's dead. 

[Griddlelol]

Fingers crossed he does. I'd be really interested in what he'd do without the constrains of Konami and Metal Gear.

Edit: I hope we see a Kojima directed movie.

[Cyborg771]

Does Konami or KojiPro own the trademark for Metal Gear? Could Konami hypothetically release future Metal Gear games without (or KojiPro's) approval?

[syntheticgerbil]

Nah Kojima Productions is still a subsidiary of Konami so it's still going to be their property forever and ever.

 

Either way if this does happen, but I imagine Konami does not want it to and will work something out, then Metal Gear has had a good run, so no big deal.

 

The rumors before were always that Kojima would no longer direct any Metal Gear games over and over, so this one is a bit different because it's actually something tangible like his employment status.

[JonCole]

Also, "KojiPro" is no longer a thing according to today's news. I think they've just rebranded the LA studio to be "Konami Los Angeles Studio" and such.

[syntheticgerbil]

Whoa, this seems pretty serious then. A friend/designer I knew got hired at Kojima Productions LA but didn't want to move to LA in the end so he didn't take it. Also I am not sure what Kojima Productions LA has actually done since their inception in 2012. I was under the impression that it would be mobile games (maybe Metal Gear Acid 3 which seems to have been tossed around as a possible iPad game for years), but I can't seem to find any release info.

[tegan]

Kojima to be replaced by Swedish game designer Joakim Mogren.

[Inferno313]

Whoa, this seems pretty serious then. A friend/designer I knew got hired at Kojima Productions LA but didn't want to move to LA in the end so he didn't take it. Also I am not sure what Kojima Productions LA has actually done since their inception in 2012. I was under the impression that it would be mobile games (maybe Metal Gear Acid 3 which seems to have been tossed around as a possible iPad game for years), but I can't seem to find any release info.

They're working on MGSV. Specifically the multiplayer "MGS Online."

 

Yeah, this sounds pretty real. Konami has even gone as far as removing the "A Hideo Kojima Game" from not just the MGS V Boxart on the site, but also the Ground Zeroes art and the MGS Legacy Collection art.

[Henroid]

Via Twitter:

 

"P.T. was a metaphor for Kojima being forced to make the same thing forever and the gradual decline of his sanity as a result."

[juv3nal]

Honestly, if he's not going to make Metal Gear Acid 3 Boktai 3D then I could care less about Kojima leaving.

 

FTFY

 

Seriously though what does Konami even have going for them aside from stuff Kojima is involved with?

Pro Evo Soccer...and...I guess they could dig up Castlevania again? How was Lord of Shadows?

[Gaizokubanou]

Do they make pachinko machines?  I hear that's kind of big deal for lot of old Japanese game publishers (SNK as perhaps one of more infamous example)

[Sno]

For quite a few years now, Konami has just been a bizarre display in how it strains and struggles against itself. There seems to be an extreme risk-averseness at the highest levels that is gradually eroding their product line-up as they focus in more and more heavily on a tiny slate of major AAA games. With so much on the table every time they ship a game, I honestly can't imagine they have a very stable or healthy future ahead of them, not unless things drastically change. Kojima leaving, however, is not the kind of change they need. It kind of cuts the heart out of the only thing Konami has left itself with.

[Tanukitsune]

He's hoping the moment he leave we get a Kickstarter about a spiritual sequel to Policenauts or/and Snatcher.

 

Sno's right, Konami isn't doing so well and the last thing they need is Kojima leaving them. I think Kojima will do fine in whatever he does next, but Konami? I'd be worried, but... I'm not even sure if I care about them that much, which is very sad. :^(

[kaputt]

For quite a few years now, Konami has just been a bizarre display in how it strains and struggles against itself. There seems to be an extreme risk-averseness at the highest levels that is gradually eroding their product line-up as they focus in more and more heavily on a tiny slate of major AAA games. With so much on the table every time they ship a game, I honestly can't imagine they have a very stable or healthy future ahead of them, not unless things drastically change. Kojima leaving, however, is not the kind of change they need. It kind of cuts the heart out of the only thing Konami has left itself with.

Yep, pretty much this. The only thing I see them doing next is keep publishing PES and trying to use the Fox Engine on new iterations of their IPs, but is anyone left at Konami? I think everyone's gone already, so they would need to find new people or outsource the work.

As for Metal Gear, I believe it's dead without Kojima. I'm not even a fan of the series and realize that the thing is too connected to Kojima, the name of the guy was written in all those game covers for a reason.

[Thrik]

I feel a bit torn. The idea of no more Kojima-led MGS games is saddening because wow I love those games, but it has to end at some point and it looks like MGS5 will allow the series to do so on a high.

Further titles could just be considered like Disney sequels or something if they're made. That is, fans accept that they're a bit shit and rarely consider them canonical. This is assuming that Konami doesn't manage to get the talent that brought us the earlier MGS games on board.

Kojima said a few years ago that he feels trapped working on MGS games at Konami, with little opportunity to do anything new. Maybe that's the backdrop to this whole situation, rather than Konami just screwing him over as might be assumed at first.

Whatever happens, we have a splendid series of games to enjoy replaying for years to come. I'm thankful we got them and hope that Konami can resist driving the franchise into the ground after Kojima's departure.

[Reyturner]

I'd take more Metal Gear Rising titles!

[Mawd]

I friggen love MGS but it'll be cool to see what else he does.

I only ever had a demo of Zone of Enders but that was pretty fun. Keen to see what else he does.

I don't have much context for Konami beyond MGS. It's sad to see an industry whale beach itself. But if they're going to kill the only Darling I have of theirs and scrub one of the legit few (imo) AAA auteurs' name from the things he's made then I'm going to suspend some of my sympathy.

[Sno]

Kojima has seemed like a man trapped in a prison of his own design for quite a while now. He certainly must have a lot of love for the Metal Gear series to have kept it going for this long, but over the course of the last few years there's definitely been a number of Kojima-led side-projects that ended up going nowhere. He kept trying to branch out, and Konami kept shoving him back in his most successful role as the head of Metal Gear. (I am still particularly disappointed that ZoE3 ended up not happening, i thought the teased details sounded awesome.)

[melmer]

It's happening

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1031440

I knew that all this would be PR/Marketing

[melmer]

Is this real life

[melmer]

This has consumed like 3 hours of my day.

Is no one else getting swept up in the crazy?