‘Metal Gear Solid V’ Director Hideo Kojima May Leave Konami

A series of events has transpired calling into question the relationship between legendary “Metal Gear” director and designer Hideo Kojima and his long-time employer, Konami. While Konami has released statements to quell the fires of speculation, mounting evidence points to Kojima’s tenure at Konami coming to an end.

On March 3, Konami issued a press release announcing details of an organisational restructure which would see the publisher shift to a headquarters controlled system. Under the new plan, Hideo Kojima, currently Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment, would be removed from the executive level. While not exceptional by itself, the restructuring has set the stage for what was to follow.

The rumours began in earnest when a Reddit user noticed that Hideo Kojima’s name, as well as the name and logo of his production company, Kojima Productions, had been systematically removed from all official art relating to “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.” Since the success of “Metal Gear Solid” on PSone, Hideo Kojima has become a household name to gamers and subsequent entries in the “MGS” saga have featured his name prominently on the box art.

The scrubbing of Kojima’s name extends to “MGS5” art on official website, the game’s YouTube banner art and Twitter channel. The company has also retroactively edited press releases and box art relating to older games in the “MGS” franchise to remove the Hideo Kojima name from branding.

In addition, gamers noticed that the former Kojima Productions' Twitter account has been abandoned in favor of a new "Metal Gear" account. Shortly thereafter, Konami began redirecting the Kojima Productions URL to a Japanese “MGS” Portal website. PlayStation Universe reports that the Konami, appears to have renamed the newly-formed Kojima Productions L.A.-based office to Konami Los Angeles Studio.

Konami’s official statements on the matter have done little to explain these events, and have only added fuel to the fires of speculation. The company issued a statement to Videogamer explaining that Kojima would continue to work on “Metal Gear” products, but failed to address the rumours of his departure or the disbanding of Kojima Productions.

The statement suggests that at the very least, Kojima will see out development on “Metal Gear Solid V.” It could also be interpreted to mean that Kojima will work on future “MGS” products, however, the director himself is on record as having stated that “The Phantom Pain” will be his last “MGS” game.

A report by Gamespot paints a much bleaker picture of events, with an anonymous source stating that tensions between Kojima Productions and Konami management are high. KojiPro Studio staff have reportedly seen their access to corporate internet, emails and phone restricted. The report also states that Kojima, along with other senior staff members are no longer employees of Konami and are scheduled to leave the company in December when their contracts expire.

“After we finish MGSV, Mr. Kojima and upper management will leave Konami. They said their contract ends in December,” the source said.

Through all this, Hideo Kojima’s official Twitter account has been unusually quiet, with the last update coming over 24 hours ago as of this report. Should Gamespot’s source bear true, it begs the question of what will happen to Kojima Productions' senior staff upon completion of “MGS5” in Sept.

Hideo Kojima was also working on a relaunch of the “Silent Hill” horror series for Konami, in collaboration with noted movie director Guillermo Del Toro. A highly effective and well-received teaser called “P.T.” was released during Gamescom 2014, but the apparent dissolution of developer Kojima Productions would seem to have an adverse effect on production.

(Credit: YouTube/IGN)

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