Kojima being let go in December from Konami.

They also removed his name from all the promotional art, absolved Kojipro and it looks like they're trying to remove all the proof he's worked on anything there (even though it's kind of impossible)

Reading into it a bit more, konami posted an advertisment seeking capable game devs to work on a new metal gear series.

So to put it bluntly, silent hills is dead, konami is in the process of shooting themselves in the foot, and the last real metal gear game is having every mention of Hideo Kojima removed from it.

After all of this a couple more konami devs announced on Twitter that they're departing the company. People are buying up copies of metal gear legacy collection before the only thing left is the "new and improved" cover with no mention of the person that made the game.

This is really sad to hear. Kojima was one of the few recognizable personalities in gaming and always stuck to his vision, regardless of what anyone else thought. He's crazy, eccentric, and extremely passionate about what he does. Excited to see what he does next.

Also, Konami has nothing left other than Metal Gear to be honest. So, I've got no idea what they're doing, but they could have just shot themselves in the foot. They had Silent Hills, but if it is canned like you said, they're boned.


And damn, Silent Hills was gonna be amazing.

I'm surprised that he didn't leave sooner. For fifteen years he's said that he's done making MGS and wants to do something different.

I heard this yesterday. Really annoyed me with Metal Gear being possibly my favorite series.

What else does Konami even have? The only relevant things I can think of that are still 'things' these days are Metal Gear and pop culture references to the Konami code, which doesn't exactly bring in a viable income. Well done, sack the most relevant person in your company *logic*.


Looking for bright sides though, Phantom Pain seems to be the game that will bridge the gap leading up to the original Metal Gear, so if that's the case at least he's finished the franchise up before he got sacked. Not to mention at this point the game is pretty much going to be finished, so the game should be quality Metal Gear since Kojima had his input with it.


Still sad news though...I wonder how long until Konami just ceases to be?

- - - Post Merge - - -

Piyoko said:

I'm surprised that he didn't leave sooner. For fifteen years he's said that he's done making MGS and wants to do something different.

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He says he didn't want to make it but I think it was a 'Sakurai' case where if the company were going to release a game anyway, then he wanted to be a part of it.

I'm honestly just curious about what the hell he did. Companies don't just erase you unless something big went down. I have concerns.

Darn. I was really looking forward to Silent Hills.

Also curious as to what he did.

ZR388 said:

I'm honestly just curious about what the hell he did. Companies don't just erase you unless something big went down. I have concerns.

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He betrayed them and took their giant robot. Not to mention killing the oddly over powered CEO's in a series of immense battles.

Of course, this is just the statement that Konami released and isn't true but the public can't know what truly happened, so he will sadly die as a villain with only those close to him knowing the truth. He's a true hero.

Konami probably appointed Kojima's best disciple to take over and become the new big boss of his old projects.

Damn, that's really sad, considering that Kojima is the only person right now to keep Konami relevant anymore.

Piyoko said:

I'm surprised that he didn't leave sooner. For fifteen years he's said that he's done making MGS and wants to do something different.

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He also faces a lot of pressure from fans to keep making Metal Gear titles, but this is obviously going to be his last one. I doubt Konami will let him take the IP with him.

It's not like he's the only one though. Yoji Shinkawa, the designer of characters and mechs, said MGS4 would be his last one, yet he's still there. Harry Gregson-Williams, one of the composers since MGS2, said he would do only one more Metal Gear game, and only if it was set in the jungle. He still did the music for games after MGS3 (though to be fair, not for Peace Walker).

selcouth said:

Darn. I was really looking forward to Silent Hills.

Also curious as to what he did.

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The inside source said that the Kojima Productions team and Konami had a sort of power struggle, likely something to do with Konami higher-ups trying to interfere with their work (even though KojiPro was made so this wouldn't happen).


I read about it yesterday before the confirmation that he was leaving. The guy has been working at Konami for almost 30 years and he was the vice president of Konami, now he's just been demoted due to some crap that could've been solved in a better way. They're hurting the fans of Kojima and Metal Gear with this as well.

I'm sure Kojima will be able to find a place somewhere else. He's made a name for himself in the business. If I were running a game company I'd be jumping at the chance to hire him and take the accompanying risks. He also has said many times that he has ideas for other games, new IPs, so it would be a great chance for him to get those in the works.

Time will tell, but at this point it seems like this was the worst move Konami could've possibly made. They already dropped the ball on Castlevania and Silent Hill, but now Metal Gear (and possibly Zone of the Enders, if they have the bright idea of making another one of those) is gonna go the same way. Good work, fellas.

Reindeer said:

I'm sure Kojima will be able to find a place somewhere else. He's made a name for himself in the business. If I were running a game company I'd be jumping at the chance to hire him and take the accompanying risks. He also has said many times that he has ideas for other games, new IPs, so it would be a great chance for him to get those in the works.

Time will tell, but at this point it seems like this was the worst move Konami could've possibly made. They already dropped the ball on Castlevania and Silent Hill, but now Metal Gear (and possibly Zone of the Enders, if they have the bright idea of making another one of those) is gonna go the same way. Good work, fellas.

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Pretty much this.

Without having crazy people trying to tell him what to do he's free to expand his ideas. The whole situation I think is for the better for people that enjoy his games since he can easily partner with another company or even try and make it on his own. If anything the only thing that is happening is Konami kicked out their last remaining lifeline and signed their own death. They really don't have anything going for them now.

It's still pretty crummy considering that all of the projects he's currently working on outside of mgs5 are being dropped (from rumor.)

I just think it's really awful Konami's trying to hire a completely new team for Metal Gear. Let the man have his work. It's over.

ZR388 said:

I just think it's really awful Konami's trying to hire a completely new team for Metal Gear. Let the man have his work. It's over.

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I think it's bizarre that no one at Konami is having deja vu. They broke up Team Silent and the series went to **** so now it's seen as a negative thing when a new SH game releases. Now they're breaking up Kojima Productions, but are expecting their unnecessary non-Kojima Metal Gear games to be selling like hot cakes. You'd think they would have learned.

Reindeer said:

I think it's bizarre that no one at Konami is having deja vu. They broke up Team Silent and the series went to **** so now it's seen as a negative thing when a new SH game releases. Now they're breaking up Kojima Productions, but are expecting their unnecessary non-Kojima Metal Gear games to be selling like hot cakes. You'd think they would have learned.

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This pretty much. I'm just wondering what the hell they think they're going to do with the series when Kojima's the writer of the story. At least MGS5 bridges the gap up to MG, though with them taking Kojima's name off of everything I almost don't want to buy the game and support Konami at all.

ZR388 said:

This pretty much. I'm just wondering what the hell they think they're going to do with the series when Kojima's the writer of the story. At least MGS5 bridges the gap up to MG, though with them taking Kojima's name off of everything I almost don't want to buy the game and support Konami at all.

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Same about almost not wanting to buy it.


Maybe Kojima may have gapped the story to the original Metal Gear and Konami didn't like that since it would mean no more Snake sequels (since there isn't really any other place to set one) so they fired him and changed the ending so they can cram another in.

Tao said:

Same about almost not wanting to buy it.


Maybe Kojima may have gapped the story to the original Metal Gear and Konami didn't like that since it would mean no more Snake sequels (since there isn't really any other place to set one) so they fired him and changed the ending so they can cram another in.

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I heard there was some sort of power struggle that set all of this stuff off. It probably did somewhat include Kojima going "Nah bruh I'm done with Metal Gear." The thing is he's still working on TPP, so it shouldn't have a changed ending. I'd like to think after playing Kojima's games for 20 years I'd be able to spot a cop-out on Konami's part as far as game development goes (probably why rising just didn't feel right to me.)

The sad part, I want to boycott TPP, I really do. Kojima poured his heart and soul into it though and I'm not sure it would be proper to honor Kojima by not buying something he worked very hard on, regardless of the situation. I think it's just safe to say if this isn't the last MG, it is the last one I'll play.

ZR388 said:

I'd like to think after playing Kojima's games for 20 years I'd be able to spot a cop-out on Konami's part as far as game development goes (probably why rising just didn't feel right to me.)

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What about Rising was due to Konami?


I'm not going to boycott MGS5. Kojima and his team worked hard on it, and even in the face of the current situation, the insider from KojiPro said that Kojima himself wants the team to keep working hard to deliver a good game for the fans. The release date is still the same, so I'd like to think that Konami isn't forcing them to do anything differently. The only thing that's changed is that they're all being let go after MGS5 has been released.

What I will boycott is all the crap that Konami will release afterwards, which they have now pretty much confirmed. I won't be buying those. I understand that there may have been other Kojima-led MGS games, due to him saying it was his last game ever since MGS2 was in development, and Rising 2 was a real possibility, but at this point... **** it.

Reindeer said:

What about Rising was due to Konami?

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I was more referring to "anything not done by Kojima doesn't have the same feel to it." In reference to probably being able to tell something is off if Konami messes with the ending of TPP. That's not to say I didn't like Rising, far from it. It just doesn't feel like a Metal Gear title.

Hideo Kojima stated, "I want to reassure fans that I am 100% involved and will continue working on METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN; I’m determined to make it the greatest game I’ve directed to date. Don’t miss it!"

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This doesn't sound like Kojima at all. Something's up.

ZR388 said:

I was more referring to "anything not done by Kojima doesn't have the same feel to it." In reference to probably being able to tell something is off if Konami messes with the ending of TPP. That's not to say I didn't like Rising, far from it. It just doesn't feel like a Metal Gear title.

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Ah, I guess. Kojima still had some supervision over the project and gave the final product his blessing, that was good enough for me to buy it. All the things after MGS5 will have no involvement from him at all, so even if he goes "yo this game good" I won't buy it. I'll just see everything after 5 as sequels to Snake's Revenge.

Reindeer said:

Ah, I guess. Kojima still had some supervision over the project and gave the final product his blessing, that was good enough for me to buy it. All the things after MGS5 will have no involvement from him at all, so even if he goes "yo this game good" I won't buy it. I'll just see everything after 5 as sequels to Snake's Revenge.

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Oh, yeah I know Kojima gave Rising his blessing. It wasn't that about it that made it feel off. It was just how rushed it felt. Kojima games aren't rushed if you partake in all the cutscenes. Then again it's pretty impossible to get lost in Rising, so that may be a part of it.

I'll just see everything after 5 as sequels to Snake's Revenge.

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Ghost Babble

I'm actually a fan of Silent Hill, but recent games have been lackluster to me. I think it wrapped up pretty nicely in 3. (I liked 4 but it could have stood on it's own without the use of silent hill references to string it along.) In my own personal opinion, gaming has evolved past the point where the most innovative and constructive concepts caught peoples attention. With the way things have gone mainstream, we are all still holding onto the franchises and not allowing creators to experiment past what we are already comfortable with.

Games seem to adhere to the lowest common denominator and most don't depend on the player to invest time to learn and adapt to the skills needed to advance and complete a game. When I worked at Gamestop, it was common to see someone buy a game, finish it then trade it in for something else; in short durations of time. To me it feels like people feel more like they don't want to be left out rather than giving a chance to experience the creations in it's entirety.

So I can only imagine the passions of the artists slowly being crushed by the pressure to sell to the masses. The demand to keep the audience interested is difficult because of the range of demographics being catered to is more than the nerdy elitists (who would sit in one place for hours until they unlocked every possibility available and then some.) where popularity is not wrong, there is a push for the enthusiast to become a dying breed.

A memory that always sticks to me is the Laughing Octopus and her story and how I felt so involved with wanting to know more about her. When you become invested with a character, to the point where they felt real to you, I think those are moments that define something special. In gaming, in art and the what have yous.

With all that said it's understandable to see tension but to remove Kojima is still a disappointment regardless. I just think it's prolly better to allow developers to move past the constraints of fandom so maybe they can have a chance to create something new. It's just heartbreaking how it's going down.