Konami has a surprising response to earlier reports that Hideo Kojima is now no longer officially employed with the company: they denied it.
In an article for Tokyo Sports, they referred to Kojima as listed as a company employee, taking a long time off after finishing up development on Metal Gear Solid 5. When pressed further, the Konami spokesperson doubled down, stating that long breaks aren’t unusual for developers after working on long term AAA projects.
The spokesperson was also asked about the farewell party, and they coyly replied they were not sure what kind of party it was. Shortly after Konami’s statement was published online, Simon Parkin, who wrote the original report of Kojima’s departure, shared this picture of Kojima’s farewell party.
Here is a photograph of Kojima's farewell party on October 9th at Konami, which Konami claims no knowledge of: pic.twitter.com/xgRUoYs5qt
— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) October 20, 2015
It’s worth noting Parkin reported that neither Konami’s founder nor current president were in attendance, and some former Konami employees were there, so this may have been an unofficial gathering.
In any case, Konami’s response is genuinely perplexing, as the saga of Kojima’s dissociation with Konami had been picked up by fans since last March. Neither party seems to desire to talk about the dissolution, so much of what we know has been unofficially confirmed, even by mainstream media, via insiders and other sources. Information on this has been so hazy that it seemed like Kojima was already gone since around the time of The Phantom Pain's release.
Konami may be telling a white lie in this case, as Kojima may currently be waiting out all his vacation days before he is officially no longer employed by the company. Under these circumstances, Kojima is technically still employed but isn’t really working for them.
Some folks put forward their responses to this situation on Twitter, and they may not shed light on it but at least they'll make you smile.
Yeah, Kojima's on vacation like my dad was just taking some time for himself to figure things out.
— Wendigo Wild Wings (@alex_navarro) October 20, 2015
Konami: Kojima "sent to live on a farm where he'll have a lot of space to run around and play with other Kojimas" https://t.co/cZsn59NFp0
— Justin McElroy (@JustinMcElroy) October 20, 2015
To be fair, Konami's so incompetent, they *could* host a farewell party and still have no knowledge of it. https://t.co/bTFAWOk8N6
— The Jimsaw Killer (@JimSterling) October 20, 2015
In a statement Konami says that "Kojima said he was just going to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes and he'll be back later"
— CEO Kaz Hirai (@KazHiraiCEO) October 20, 2015
.@Konami denies @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN has departed the company, claims he is "on vacation". pic.twitter.com/mY45OjF2Ga
— Tamaki (@Doctor_Cupcakes) October 20, 2015
how long til kojima makes a rogue studio in the sea and how many people have made this joke already
— spooky enby (@cultofbabies) October 20, 2015
