Hajime Tabata, director of upcoming console-exclusive Final Fantasy 15, had a few words to share in regards to the news of Hideo Kojima, director and visionary for the Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series, leaving his studio, Kojima Productions, and its parent company, Konami, the latter shutting down the former in the process.
“It’s a rare case of a highly successful studio being closed down, so obviously everyone is in a state of shock about it, I think,” Tabata told the New Yorker. “But we believe that we can survive. At least, until the company decides to close us down.”
The news of Kojima having left Kojima Productions and Konami as of Oct. 9, 2015 was first reported by the New Yorker through an anonymous source that attended the an event commemorating Kojima’s time at the company. According to the source, Konami’s president, Hideki Hayakawa, nor its CEO, Sadaaki Kaneyoshi, was in attendance at said event.
Konami has not yet confirmed that Kojima has left either Kojima Productions or Konami (or both), but we will update you as soon as the company makes a statement.
Tabata’s Final Fantasy 15 is expected to launch sometime next year on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In its development of the game, Square Enix released a demo entitled Episode Duscae from which it received feedback and then implemented that feedback into Episode Duscae2.0. Check out its recent trailer here.
Source: New Yorker
