‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ Voice Actress Claims Hideo Kojima Has Been Fired, Konami Denies

Another twist has been added in the tale of “Metal Gear Solid 5” director, Hideo Kojima’s ongoing saga with the game’s publisher, Konami. “MGS5” voice actress and singer Donna Burke has seemingly confirmed prior reports indicating Kojima is no longer an employee at Konami. The company responded by stating that Burke’s assertion is categorically incorrect.

In a pair of tweets picked up by Videogamer, Burke, who sang “Heavens Divide” for “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker” and “Sins of the Father” for “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” and voiced the iDroid in “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes,” urged fans not to throw away all the work the team at Kojima Productions by boycotting the game. She followed her statement up by confirming that Kojima had indeed been fired and stated that previous reports in the press had been accurate.

A Konami representative reached out to Videogamer, telling them that Burke’s claims were categorically incorrect. Elsewhere, GamesRadar reports that Akio Ōtsuka, the Japanese voice actor for Solid Snake has urged fans not to boycott or cancel preorders of “Metal Gear Solid V.” He added that the team behind “The Phantom Pain” remains intact.

Shortly after reports emerged Kojima was no longer a full-time employee of Konami, but was instead working as a contractor, Konami issued a statement, reported by IGN, which explained the removal of Kojima’s name from “MGS” series related materials as a rebranding. The company added that the teams manning social accounts and working on “Metal Gear Solid V” were still the same, but as IGN notes, Konami avoided going into details about Kojima’s current employment status.

“Naturally director Kojima is playing the game, checking all the small details and giving directions to the staff as the title continues to completion. Bringing the thoughts and ideas of director Kojima in an open world game of the size of TPP is incredibly difficult, the director and the team that’s been there from the start are coming together as one as they aim to finish the game, so please give them the support they need,” read the statement.

Meanwhile, following a long period of silence, Kojima’s English and Japanese Twitter accounts are once again active. The developer has been retweeting images of cosplay, pictures from movies and images of fan art, just as he was before the controversy erupted. However, has made no mention of recent events and doesn’t appear to be posting development screenshots from “MGS5” any longer.

(Credit: YouTube/GamesHQMedia)

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