It wasn’t all that long ago when we first heard the news of Hideo Kojima and Konami’s bitter breakup. Just last year, Silent Hills was revealed via a playable teaser that showed gamers all over the world what Hideo Kojima’s next big video game might have been. Since the announcement of Konami’s split with Kojima, we have been in the dark of what the future holds for Hideo Kojima and his thoughts on the recent events. However, at DICE this year, Polygon had the opportunity to sit down with Kojima and discuss the recent past along with what we can expect from him in the future.
When we last seen Hideo Kojima and Konami together, it was revealed that he was working on the next installment to the Silent Hill franchise, which would simply be called Silent Hills. The announcement followed with the reveal of both Guillermo Del Toro and Norman Reedus collaborating on the project, but suddenly the breakup resulted in the cancellation of this promising installment. To best describe the feeling Kojima had, along with Guillermo Del Toro and Norman Reedus, he used a metaphor.
Let’s say you’re thinking of climbing Mount Everest, but you start with Mount Fuji. That goes well and it feels good. Then you’re preparing to climb Mount Everest and you’re not allowed to. That doesn’t feel good.
Hideo Kojima was eager to dive into the production of Silent Hills with both Del Toro and Reedus, but it was pulled away from him. He later reveals that if given the chance, he would still love to work with these two individuals on another project though apparently that’s not in the works right now. Kojima also spoke of how several companies reached out to him though it was clear that Sony would be the new home for his startup development studio, Kojima Productions.
I was fortunate to have offers from many people, studios and publishers from all over the world, but I’ve known Sony for quite a long time now. They respect what I do, respect me. It was just a matter of trust.
The future is looking bright for Kojima, he’s finally given the freedom to create something new and unique, something that he promises will be big. However, what the project entails is kept under wraps with no indication of what we can expect from this upcoming video game, how many employees is part of Kojima Productions, and for that matter, where his studio is even located.
Beyond his debut video game from Kojima Productions, he’s keeping his options open. Kojima admitted that he wouldn’t mind diving into films, anime, and even work with the newly established VR technology.
