Kojima Productions is no more, with Hideo Kojima apparently leaving the studio following completion of Metal Gear Solid V.
That’s according to one prominent voice actor for the Metal Gear Solid series anyway.
Otsuka Akio, the Japanese voice actor for Solid Snake and Big Boss has said that Kojima Productions, the development studio behind Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain no longer exists.
This news comes from a twitter update by the voice actor himself, which was subsequently translated by Japanese gaming magazine Gematsu.
“[Kojima Productions] has been disbanded, it appears that the work the team has been putting their utmost effort into is nearly complete”, tweeted Akio.
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Akio continued by saying that he believes Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be the studio’s greatest work yet:
“I’m not exaggerating when I say that I expect it will become their greatest masterpiece” he continued. “I couldn’t help it, I just wanted to say ‘Kept you waiting huh?’ But even if this is the end, Metal Gear Solid is immortal!”
Konami is yet to address the state of Kojima Productions, and whether the studio has been dissolved or is no longer in operation.
Earlier this year it was confirmed that senior staff at Kojima Productions had their access restricted within the company. This occurred shortly after a number of disputes between Kojima Productions and publisher Konami became public.
A source within the company explained that Hideo Kojima and other senior staff were essentially working as contractors until the completion of The Phantom Pain.
After development was complete management at the company would fall apart, with Kojima set to leave in the eventual fallout.
“After we finish MGSV, Mr.Kojima and upper management will leave Konami. They said their contract ends in September,” the source said.
Plenty of shady activity concerning Kojima and Konami has surfaced throughout 2015. The most high-profile of which was the removal of the Kojima Productions logo from all marketing material for MGSV and other games from the franchise.
Although Konami has said that “Kojima will continue to work and support Metal Gear Products,” his future involvement with the franchise is still unclear.
Silent Hills, the dream collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, likely suffered cancellation due to the disbanding of Kojima Productions. The project was canned in April 2015, and we haven’t heard anything since.
Upon reflecting on the project, Guillermo Del Toro said that the abolition of Silent Hills was “completely unexpected.”
Konami has announced that it is hiring new staff to work on future Metal Gear titles, which hints towards a future without Kojima Productions.
The company’s current stance is to “pursue mobile games aggressively” going forward, so this brings forth the question of how longer Konami may remain in the AAA gaming space.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is set for release on 1 September for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
