According to a recent interview with The New Yorker (as spotted by IGN), Hideo Kojima is “contractually forbidden” from discussing the situation at Konami during the past year, or his departure from the company. Instead of speaking directly about his former employer, the auteur did talk about the difficulties many AAA publishers face in today’s market.
"The only way to create high-end games is to target the global market. But in order to target the global market, the management behind the project needs to have a keen sense for what will work, and be willing to take risks. If you’re only focused on the profits immediately in front of you, the times will leave you behind," he said. "It becomes impossible to catch up again."
While the language is vague, some of this could allude to Kojima’s relationship with Konami over the past year. After initial signs of something amiss, the indications that something was wrong continued right up until The Game Awards earlier this month, where host Geoff Keighley spoke about Kojima’s absence. The developer officially broke ties with Konami earlier this week when his contract was terminated. Almost immediately, he partnered with Sony to create a new studio, Kojima Productions. The company includes members from his former studio with Konami.
Konami has swiftly moved on as well. The company is openly hiring for the next Metal Gear game, although they haven’t given any other details.
Stay up to date on Gameranx to hear about any other news about Kojima’s new game, or the future of the Metal Gear IP.
