Hideo Kojima Interview Reveals He Almost Left Konami Because of Metal Gear

There are quite a few iconic names in the video game industry that most would easily recognize. Hideo Kojima is undoubtedly one of those names, as he had quite a long career of game hits. Easily, the biggest from his catalog so far is Metal Gear, as the franchise blossomed into a worldwide hit. But when Hideo tried to get this game off the ground, he was met with passive-aggressive resistance.

Thanks to Shmuplations, an old interview from 1999 was uncovered. It featured Hideo Kojima speaking about the time he was first trying to get Metal Gear into production. At the time, the famed developer noted that Konami was interested in bringing out a war game. However, developers working on the project couldn’t quite get a satisfying build to enter full production. Kojima went on to say that this project would constantly get revised.

That’s when it eventually landed in his lap. As you likely know, Hideo Kojima takes inspiration from films, and that’s where he came up with Metal Gear. Looking back at the movie The Great Escape, Hideo opted to create a similar war game with a focus on stealth and escaping an area. During his time making up a concept, he was constantly dismissed as even Hideo noted that at the time, he was still just a planner at Konami, so he assumed no one was interested in listening to what he had to say.

This became so frustrating and passive-aggressive that Hideo was near the point of leaving Konami. However, after speaking with another older employee, he managed to get a presentation showcasing the game. While the higher-ups at Konami weren’t initially interested, it turned out that the bright red exclamation point convinced them that this could work.

By and by, the situation only degraded further into passive-aggressive resistance. It got to the point where I was so fed up with working at a corporation like this that I was ready to quit Konami altogether. But then I talked with another older employee, and from that conversation, a pathway opened up. Taking the lead, he called everyone in the office for a presentation about the game, and after that, the people around me started to change their attitude. (laughs) It wasn’t exactly a “rebirth” of the Metal Gear project, but it was finally able to start moving in a positive direction.

Of course everyone still had their doubts about the basic premise. They were all asking, “will an escape game really be fun…?” But once we got a working build running, and they saw that exclamation mark pop up when the enemy gets surprised, that sold them on the concept. They all changed their tune then: “This is gonna work!” – Hideo Kojima Nice Games Interview

The rest is history. Metal Gear became a massive IP for Konami. Of course, since then, Hideo has left the company to start his studio, Kojima Productions. But it’s interesting that one of the biggest video game franchises almost didn’t come to fruition.