A lot of games-loving folk out there hold Hideo Kojima up as a creator par excellence. And it sure is true that the Japanese designer, director and writer has some impressive credits to his name.
He near-enough single-handedly guided the Metal Gear (Solid) series to its greatest successes; his graphic adventure games for Konami, Policenauts and Snatcher, are classics of their kind, well overdue a rerelease; and 2019's Death Stranding, the debut title from his own Kojima Productions studio, has won a host of gaming industry awards.
But in a new (May 29) interview with livedoor.com (it's in Japanese, by the way), Kojima reveals that not everything he touches turns to gold. Or at least, not without a lot of work - which, no doubt, 99% of game creators out there will relate to. As picked up and translated by siliconera, Kojima told livedoor:
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"Quite recently, a large game proposal of mine was rejected, so I'm feeling a bit annoyed. Well, it's something that happens often in this industry."
And yes, it does! Many a project, many a game, ultimately never gets beyond its most primitive planning stages, for a host of reasons. It's just not that common that we hear from someone generally regarded as one of the highest-profile individuals in the business as encountering someone telling them, "no". (Insert your own comment about how Death Stranding might have benefitted from a few more people saying "no", here.)
In the same interview, which was also picked up by videogamer.com, Kojima denies rumours that he/Kojima Productions is negotiating the rights for Metal Gear Solid and P.T. away from Konami. "Those (rumours) are completely fake," he said, before adding: "At the very least, I haven't heard of this at all."
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Kojima Productions has done alright, money wise, off the back of Death Stranding - which launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in November 2019 with publishing from Sony Interactive Entertainment and arrives on PC this July via 505 Games - but it's unlikely the studio would have the capital to prize something like the MGS series away from Konami.
"We've secured as much profit as possible (on Death Stranding) in preparation for what's next," Kojima commented. And if I may be so bold, Kojima-san: if you were to go to Konami with some wads of yen in your pockets, how about making it enough to put out Policenauts and Snatcher again? I know, I'm a broken record on this stuff. But imagine them on Switch! It's free money! Probably!
Back in March, we heard that Kojima was working again with Death Stranding actor Norman Reedus, leading to speculation that the pair were to resurrect their aborted Silent Hills project - canned by Konami in 2015. But let's be honest with ourselves: Reedus would make a fine voice for a reborn Gillian Seed. No? Just me?
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Fine.
Featured Image Credit: Konami, Kojima ProductionsTopics: Konami, Death Stranding, Kojima Productions