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GameSpot: Kojima to leave Konami after MGSV, power struggle, communications embargo

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GnawtyDog

Banned
Big prolific firing.

Sony pls
Microsoft pls
Nintendo pls...

Let the chips fall where they may...

Hopefully something good can come out of this. The industry is always changing, this is nothing out of the ordinary.

Look at Amy, now doing Star Wars. A lot of folks are looking towards that - myself included.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
I wonder what will happen to MGO and its DLC :(
Now I'm really itching to play GZ but I never caved in as I've always wanted to see if it was gonna be included in PP's disc or at least some kind of collection...
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
Nah Kojima doesn't need ND. He needs his own thing so he can fully realize his vision.

I agree. People associate him with just Metal Gear but he's designed a range of different games before and not all of them are cinematic epics. Maybe Kojima wants to design puzzle games for a while or something. I'd rather he have some degree of freedom to do what he wants.
 
Kojima probably wanted to break free from MGS, Konami wouldn't have any of it. So, Kojima left.

This is crazy though, end of an era. Konami now has nothing left. They killed all of their franchises, and now the guy behind their cash cow is leaving.
You're half right only because MGS is Konami's second biggest cash cow. The first one is the annualized and always multiple million seller Pro Evolution Soccer. No other IP for Konami has ever been as profitable as PES.

But yeah they're still sabotaging one ofthe two golden egg laying chickens they had.

And what about Silent Hills???
 

-Horizon-

Member
I don't see Kojima relocating outside of Japan, so I think that he either creates his own studio ala Platinum or goes to Sony. As mentioned before I don't think he'll work for Nintendo, specially because of their hardware policy but who knows.

I'm ambivalent regarding these news, one the one hand I fear he might end up in a position where he'll be unable to make games like MGS anymore, on the other I am exicted to see him getting out of Konami's clutches and Metal Gear's shackles. We'll see.

Moby Dick Studio coming to fruition. Kojima will relocate to Sweden. The prophecy will be fulfilled.
 

artsi

Member
pPvKFq8.png

I can't take this.

CUiAE7u.gif
 

Nabbis

Member
Interestingly enough, a mostly-crowd-funded Star Citizen game cost about the same amount as MGS IV. So, no. You're wrong.

Oh look, one game that breaks the tradition. And it's only the most asked game concept of the entire PC audience since the age of PC games. Color me skeptical that a gamble like that is something he would take.
 

Alienous

Member
Does Kojima get to take his engine with him? What happens to Silent Hills, and would Konami even dare to continue Metal Gear without Kojima? This is fucking sad.

If you get any more Metal Gear games from Konami expect them to be mobile games like this:

So I'm thinking about what the smartphone Metal Gear will be like and it'll probably be pretty cool! You can make it grid based, sort of like Hitman Go, but instead of a premium product they may go with an energy thing so missions and being spotted will drain your lifebar (rations restore it but cost extra). Collecting cards of MGS characters, weapons, and vehicles and using them AC!D style will be a hoot too, and they can have special monthly events so you have a chance at "capturing" special characters like Tuxedo Snake or Pliskin with their own unique attributes.

They'll probably be able to pump it out pretty quick, too, what with Kojima not being able to stop it. A win-win situation all around.

a.k.a. shit.
 

shaowebb

Member
Kojima > Konami anyways

This. That publisher holds him under Metal Gear so hard its like he will never see any other game. Maybe after this Kojima can extend a bit and enjoy some creative freedom and Konami can try to make something other than just Metal Gear.
 

Sotha_Sil

Member
Personally i'd love to see him make a new IP, AAA independent studio, working with Bethesda or TakeTwo are things that make sense to me given their approaches but I don't know if I consider that to be actually likely

I would love to see him form a new studio and join the Zenimax team along with Bethesda GS, Arkane, Tango, Id, and MachineGames.
 
I'm not feeling the doom and gloom.

Kojima has been steadily more restricted with basically every game he's made. That they continue to be so great is a testament to the man's personal ability. Konami has been a weight on him for some time, and though this will mean the death of several of my favorite IPs, I'm sure there's already execs drawing up exclusivity deals for whatever he chooses to put his name on next. It'll be well funded, but more importantly, it'll be NEW.

And since everyone else is doing it, who did you trust when your own team failed you, Kojima? Only Platinum has the skill to back up your vision!
 
This could be a good thing.

Kojima can finally work on something other than MGS for a change.

I still doubt this will happen though. Konami and Kojima will work out a solution,
 

kmax

Member
We all know that Konami's absolute shit, but if there's any saving grace to any of this, it's that Konami is going to become irrelevant in the console industry without their golden goose. Let's face it, there really is no MGS without Kojima, since he is MGS.

As for Konami, Good riddance.
 
Bankrolling AAA games nowadays is extremely expensive. Getting private investors together is probably doable for him but it's almost certainly easier to just do a deal with a publisher. The question is which publisher is going to give him the best deal in terms of freedom and money.

it's easily doable. TPP will be a huge hit as it is, investors would love a piece of the pie of whatever he's involved in next in order to help fund his new venture.

Well considering they're having Platinum Games working on an exclusive game right now, they're definitely not adverse to paying a Japanese studio. Also MGS is certainly on the level of Gears in the States. Judgement didn't exactly break bank.

Thing is, Platinum has almost NO control over Scalebound. Ken Lobb implied pretty implicitly that Platinum came to MS looking for a hit in the West, and Microsoft Game Studios is pretty significantly involved in the project. And of course, from the artstyle - you can pretty easily tell that too. Kojima on the other hand has enough clout worldwide that he would need full control of the ip, and again that costs a lot of money.
 

Merc_

Member
Konami wouldn't be in as much trouble here if they hadn't banished all their other IPs into the void in order to make endless Metal Gear sequels.

Serves them right.
 
Wow. First Nintendo goes mobile and announces their new hardware, then Sega - SEGA!!! - brags about their success, which is a surprise whenever it happens, and now this news of Konami's imminent self-destruction. It's all happening this week, isn't it?

But what does this mean for Silent Hills? Canned, or is Guillermo del Toro going to direct the game himself now?

More to the point, what about MG Online 3? MGO - Kojima = Not A Good Idea?

We don't know much.

  • Silent Hills is a production stemming from an agreement between Konami and Guillermo Del Toro. Kojima was just the lead director.
  • It's likely that Kojima was the driving force between the partnership given some past tweets on wanting to work with Del Toro and Reedus long before P.T. came about, so whether or not Guillermo Del Toro stays on if Kojima is not involved in any capacity remains to be seen.
  • P.T. site has not been updated, which isn't surprising given the time since it was released. Any changes will be apparent once an official Silent Hills page is created as an entirely new page or a rebranding of the P.T. site
  • We do not know how far in development Silent Hills is and what the extent of Kojima's work into it has been. There's a slim possibility he might be allowed to continue as a contractor for the game, but that's reliant on what the situation is on the development of it at this stage and whatever remains of the relation of Konami executives and Kojima (as well as any other senior staff on the chop block).
 
Mannn this week is the bummer of all weeks, I'll be glad to see Kojima do new stuff but I always wanted him to be able to at least guide other teams on Metal Gear. Plus that new Silent Hill game was looking promising as hell...
 

Wow, that's powerful stuff.

I wonder if Kojima saw this coming and built the game to have a meta commentary on it?

The worst thing about this is that I'm worried that this Patriot-like censorship may actually compromise the making of documentary included in the collector's edition. That's the main thing I'm looking forward to in that, and it may get hacked to pieces to either hide what truly went wrong between Kojima and Konami. Or, an even worse possibility, they might even go so far as to edit Kojima out of as much of it as possible, I'd never buy and MGS game again I think.
 
This sucks. Kojima basically is Konami, without him they are likely going to really fall off. I hope this doesn't dramatically affect Silent Hills, but it's hard to see how it wouldn't.

The good news is this will hopefully give Kojima freedom from Metal Gear. As much as I adore the series, I want such a talented and creative guy as Kojima is to be able to make the game he is passionate about making instead of being talked into doing another Metal Gear Solid.

Also, no mainline Metal Gear Solid game should ever be made without him as a consultant. If MSGV is the last new MSGV game I ever play, I might can handle that. I don't want Konami forcing one on us and it turns out to be a big step down.

It's probably too early to speculate, but what's the likely landing spot for him if he does leave? Or will he start his own studio? Honestly, I'd like to see him go to Sony and maybe even head a new studio or even SCEJ (or high up there), because they seem to have a good relationship, they would give him a lot of creative freedom and they have studios he already has worked with (I think) like Sony Santa Monica plus the obvious movie potential with Sony Pictures.

Of course on the other hand I don't want to deprive other platforms of his games. I just want him to be able to make the games he wants.
 
Holy shit, Konami's freaking stupid.

Man, I miss when Japanese devs were at their peak :(

Seeing how much he loves their games, and the mutual respect they've showed to each other, how cool would it be for Naughty Dog to pick him up as a game/creative director? His ambition with their talent. That's my drug fueled fantasy anyway.

Man, this would be what dreams are made of. So it'd be too amazing to happen. Also he probably would need or get a Japanese team. Druckman/Straley on one team and Kojima leading another, sweet jesus.

As others have said though, with all the freedom they tend to give, and the vast majority of his fanbase being on PS systems, I wouldn't mind at all if Kojima and his team set up at Sony/Sony Japan.
 
Mannn this week is the bummer of all weeks, I'll be glad to see Kojima do new stuff but I always wanted him to be able to at least guide other teams on Metal Gear. Plus that new Silent Hill game was looking promising as hell...

It is a shit week. But be patient. Next week will be glorious As Bloodborne will be out.
 
I really hope this doesn't mean bad juju for the rest of TPP Development, and I really hope TPP doesn't end up being a terrible and or unfinished game.

That would literally ruin my year, and break my heart to the point where I might quit gaming entirely.

I hope that Kojima and his crew can find another studio or publisher to work for that appreciates his creative talent and the talent of the developers and community managers that work there.

I am also now scared for Silent Hills, everything seemed to be going so well for Kojipro. :(
 

Alienous

Member
Wow, that's powerful stuff.

I wonder if Kojima saw this coming and built the game to have a meta commentary on it?

The worst thing about this is that I'm worried that this Patriot-like censorship may actually compromise the making of documentary included in the collector's edition. That's the main thing I'm looking forward to in that, and it may get hacked to pieces to either hide what truly went wrong between Kojima and Konami. Or, an even worse possibility, they might even go so far as to edit Kojima out of as much of it as possible, I'd never buy and MGS game again I think.

Fuck.

I'll also seriously have to consider if I want to give Konami that extra money.
 

Angelcurio

Member
What a sad day for me. Despite all the times Kojima said that it was going to be his last MGS game, looks like this time it's going to be for real. I really wanted to see a Kojima remake MGS 1 and also develop a retelling of the first two MG MSX games on current gen consoles with 3D graphics. Looks like Big Boss will finally rest. It definitely makes me feel nostalgic, after following the series for so many years. Makes me remember how i felt when i was still a kid and saw the ending of DB GT for the first time, and Goku was leaving for real.
 

Cachuli

Banned
a year ago igarashi leave konami and now looks like kojima is the next one...

no metal gear, no castlevania...pes is a joke, and we dont know if next silent hill it's gonna be any good
 

duhmetree

Member
I think the Fox engine is tied to Kojima Productions... Kojima Productions will more than likely be bought out by Kojima (investors) or a bigger parent company.
 

Alienous

Member
I think the Fox engine is tied to Kojima Productions... Kojima Productions will more than likely be bought out by Kojima (investors) or a bigger parent company.

It's Konami's. It's used for Pro Evo, and I'm sure it would be used elsewhere if Konami was in the business of making games.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Thing is, Platinum has almost NO control over Scalebound. Ken Lobb implied pretty implicitly that Platinum came to MS looking for a hit in the West, and Microsoft Game Studios is pretty significantly involved in the project. And of course, from the artstyle - you can pretty easily tell that too. Kojima on the other hand has enough clout worldwide that he would need full control of the ip, and again that costs a lot of money.

What? Where has it been stated anywhere that Platinum has no control over Scalebound? It's been stated as a collaborative effort every single time as far as I'm aware of.
 
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