Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has officially left Konami and is establishing a new independent studio. A new report from Japan’s Nikkei states that as of December 15, Kojima has officially parted ways with Konami and this was later confirmed by a tweet from Kojima himself.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 16, 2015
The Nikkei report further states that Kojima is forming a new independent studio with a number of former Kojima Productions staff and he was in talks with a number of studios, including Sony Computer Entertainment. After a flurry of speculation over Kojima’s next move, Sony posted up a video to the PlayStation YouTube account to address the rumours. The video features Sony President Andrew House confirming the Sony/Kojima collaboration and announcing “a new partnership with one of the most celebrated game developers in history.”
Kojima’s new studio will be called Kojima Productions, which was the same name as his old studio, and he will be collaborating with Sony on the creation of a new video game franchise that will be exclusive to PlayStation. After rumours of a conflict between Kojima and Konami surfaced at the start of 2015 and continued throughout most of the year, this announcement officially brings an end to their long-running partnership and one of the most successful video game collaborations ever.
In early March, it was reported that Kojima will leave Konami following the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Reports of a conflict were escalated when Konami initially removed Kojima’s name from the box art of The Phantom Pain before backtracking, and his Silent Hills collaboration with Guillermo del Toro was cancelled. In October, it was reported that Kojima was given a farewell party and that his non-compete clause expires in December, leaving him free to find a new studio. Just earlier this month, Geoff Keighley revealed live mid-show that Konami had barred Kojima from attending The Game Awards.
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