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Kojima will no longer be a Konami executive from April 1st + KojiPro is no more?

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hirokazu said:
Taken at face value, that would suggest that this was all planned before the restructuring announcement. However, looking at the version of the press release on SCE Asia's site, it seems like Konami actually went back and scrubbed all mentions of Kojima from the press release too?

Konami:

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Konami:

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I like this new game of finding where Konami has tried to bury Hideo Kojima and KojiPro.

kojichj0y.jpg
 
DieH@rd said:
Removing his name from the boxart is stupid. His involvement in the promotion of MGS games over the last 15+ years made him into gaming developer legend. This move seems to be very shortsighted.
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It sounds like their way of thinking is that there's not one person bigger than the company which is why the scrubbing happened.
 
Sn4ke_911 said:
"All that's left" ... Kojima said on his latest video that they are at a very critical phase now, so I think this definitely will affect the whole team somehow.

Imagine this, they put all their heart into this game for over 5 years and all Konami does now is erase the logo of the development team and Kojima's name. That's not fair and real dick move from Konami.

This is pretty big if you ask me.
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Yeah it's really fucking disrespectful. They're trying to take credit for shit that isn't theirs.
 
So i think the fact of the matter is that people are missing a Key Detail here. What comes next for Kojima? If he really is no longer part of kojma productions or a Konami exec, what is to become of it? Is he effectively gone from the company come april, or is he gonna be there until MGSV launches or what?
 
Why are people assuming the worst?

If Kojima is serious about MGSV being his last Metal Gear... Konami isn't going to keep marketing the series as A Hideo Kojima Game made by Kojima Productions.
 
EatChildren said:
The Phantom Pain is fine. It's in by far the tail end of development, a huge project that's been laboured over for years, with a release date locked in. The only real worry to have with TPP is what Konami's support plans are four MGO, and how that fits into the restructuring. Even if Kojima is jumping ship, the bulk of his work on TPP would be done, and I'm certain he'd be contracted out to see the project through in full capacity.

The real query this restructuring highlights is the status of Silent Hills as a big new project for the new rebranded Kojima Productions. Rebranding is one thing, restructuring is another, especially at the dawn of a new fiscal year, which can indicate massive changes to pipeline, projects, projections, and other p words. Where previously Silent Hills fit the gap, and I suspect came about largely in part due to Hideo Kojima's executive status and leadership, the scope of the project or even existence of the project at all can be called into question. Does Konami wish to deliver on plans to fund a big new project like Silent Hills?[/i]
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I highly doubt it. After SH3 Konami has always used Silent Hill to score a quick buck by spending the least amount of money and effort and just banking on the name. If Kojima is gone than Silent Hills is either dead or another cheap cash-in pawned off to a bunch of incompetent ass hats from the west.
 
params7 said:
I think it has to do with Kojima wanting to end the franchise. Konami clearly doesn't want that and stepped in before development could be completed. I think MGS is done storyline wise now.
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Bingo. Keeping the "A Hideo Kojima Game" tag on this game but not future games he wouldn't be involved with would cannibalize sales. It's exactly why Acid and Portable Ops didn't do well at all.

I don't really see why Konami would lie when they say that they will continue to work with Kojima, but I also believe that they are restructuring KojiPro so that they can make MGS games without Kojima and not have to worry about his absence being a kiss of death.

It's also possible that Kojima is still employed at Konami, but is no longer a VP or senior manager, so that he could go freelance and work on his own projects outside of Konami. If Kojima got laid off, Konami would have announced it as layoffs are required to be announced by public companies since they directly effect the stock (although, it's still possible that they would announce it on April first - but I don't believe they'd be issusing these statements if they laid Kojima off - and it's very rare that a Japanese company outright lays off a senior manager. More likely that Kojima left on his own accord).
 
kunonabi said:
I highly doubt it. After SH3 Konami has always used Silent Hill to score a quick buck by spending the least amount of money and effort and just banking on the name. If Kojima is gone than Silent Hills is either dead or another cheap cash-in pawned off to a bunch of incompetent ass hats from the west.
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Yup, the biggest thing about PT was Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toros name. It would be a Hideo Kojima game. Konami wanting to get Kojimas recognition...fuck em.
 
Someone make a list, at this point we could make a pretty comprehensive jeopardy round with "Japanese game developer legends who got slighted by their companies" for 400
 
NintenDOMG said:
This is exactly what I'm thinking.
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Not the first time this happens. It's pretty shameless tbh.

But there's worst, certain news websites have an almost 1-1 mapping between GAF threads and their news articles.


Anyway, if Konami is capable of pulling this on hideo kojima I don't know what they'd be capable of pulling on a lower-tier employee.
 
EatChildren said:
The Phantom Pain is fine. It's in by far the tail end of development, a huge project that's been laboured over for years, with a release date locked in. The only real worry to have with TPP is what Konami's support plans are four MGO, and how that fits into the restructuring. Even if Kojima is jumping ship, the bulk of his work on TPP would be done, and I'm certain he'd be contracted out to see the project through in full capacity.
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I think Konami will fuck with the TPP's development now so that there's room for numbered sequels, which is not aligned with Kojima's original vision. With the way they've removed Kojima from the branding, I think a major conflict of opinions went down within Konami and Koji Pro.
 
Discoid said:
Yeah it's really fucking disrespectful. They're trying to take credit for shit that isn't theirs.
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Exactly.

Let's get a twitter trend and petition going with we want the "A Hideo Kojima Game" and the Kojima Productions logo back on the boxart and marketing stuff.
 
DieH@rd said:
Removing his name from the boxart is stupid. His involvement in the promotion of MGS games over the last 15+ years made him into gaming developer legend. This move seems to be very shortsighted, or made by petty executives who have come to conclusion that in the mind eye of the public, their company is nothing without Kojima.
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They're not wrong.
 
params7 said:
I think Konami will fuck with the TPP's development now so that there's room for numbered sequels, which is not aligned with Kojima's original vision. With the way they've removed Kojima from the branding, I think a major conflict of opinions went down within Konami and Koji Pro.
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I don't see how. The game at this point will be pretty much done in terms of content. There is likely very little way in which they could do that. MGO is the only concern since that will need on going support.
 
Xpliskin said:
Not the first time this happens. It's pretty shameless tbh.

But there's worst, certain news websites have an almost 1-1 mapping between GAF threads and their news articles.


Anyway, if Konami is capable of pulling this on hideo kojima I don't know what they'd be capable of pulling on a lower-tier employee.
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Yeah I know, it happened to my first thread.
 
What happened with Castlevania is going to happen with MGS if Kojima leaves Konami. Big Boss is gonna be the new Belmond and we will see pointless MGS games from Konami...
All these years they could work on something new but they got stuck with the same shit and now they think that by restructuring the company and its policies they will save the situation when all they had to do, was keep the damn "A HIDEO KOJIMA GAME" on the posters and covers and let the man work on other things too.
 
Discoid said:
Yeah it's really fucking disrespectful. They're trying to take credit for shit that isn't theirs.
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MGS is my favorite game series of all time and I think Kojima is a modern day Asimov but even I think that putting "A Hideo Kojima Game" on the MGS games in his "canon" was not only disrespectful to his staff if they wanted to make their own games, but also to Konami who owned Metal Gear before Kojima worked at Konami in the first place.
 
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