In March 2015, Konami sent out a press release announcing changes at the company’s corporate level, moves described at the time as “shifting our production structure to a headquarters-controlled system, in order to establish a steadfast operating base capable of responding to the rapid market changes that surround our digital entertainment business.” Not much later, Konami issued another release, this time naming key personnel changes related to those changes. One name was noticeably absent: Hideo Kojima.
At the time, Kojima was serving as executive content officer and director of Kojima Productions, his own personal studio under Konami’s umbrella. Though Kojima was not named in the personnel changes, his name, and Kojima Productions, were quietly removed from official Metal Gear assets, including box arts, promotional materials and official websites. Reports swirled that Kojima was on the outs, eventually forcing the two sides to publicly state that Kojima was still part of the company and continuing to work on the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, eventually released in September 2015.
A title in development that was not as lucky was Silent Hills, positioned to be a landmark horror project by Kojima in partnership with Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro and starring Norman Reedus. The game was revealed via a playable teaser, aptly titled P.T., that launched for free on PlayStation 4 during the Gamescom 2014 convention in Cologne, Germany.
Though not officially labeled with the Silent Hill branding, fans soon figured out what P.T. was a teaser for and excitement for the project grew. Soon after, however, reports began to surface about Konami’s and Kojima’s falling out and P.T. was promptly removed from the PlayStation Store while the planned Silent Hills project was shelved.
This would be Kojima’s final announced project with Konami, The Phantom Pain would be his last published game, and Oct. 9, 2015 would be his last day in Konami’s offices.
Two months later, on Dec. 15, 2015, a video was uploaded to the official PlayStation YouTube channel entitled “Announcing a new partnership with one of the most celebrated game developers in history.” In it, Andrew House, then-president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, made a bombshell announcement: Hideo Kojima was opening his own studio, Kojima Productions, and his first game would be a PlayStation console exclusive.
Kojima confirmed his exit from Konami personally on the same day, tweeting, “My employment contract with Konami has been terminated as of Dec. 15th, so today marks a new start for me. I'm committed to be involved in creative activities for as long as I live. Look forward to what's coming.”
The world wouldn’t have to wait long, as Kojima made a surprise appearance six months later on the PlayStation stage at E3 2016. Introduced once again by Andrew House, Kojima walked down a lit ramp, made a quick speech to the crowd about his new game and the ensuing trailer introduced the world to Death Stranding for the first time. With it came a few answers (Norman Reedus was the star) but left many more questions (Who’s the baby? Why all the ink? What killed all the marine life?).
As gamers learned more about the upcoming title, it seemed Kojima wanted his first project outside of Konami to be a blockbuster, as more familiar names were linked to the project. Del Toro was back, appearing in the game’s Game Awards 2016 trailer; Mads Mikkelsen was revealed as a main antagonist in the same teaser; Lea Seydoux, Margaret Qualley and Tommie Earl Jenkins would all also join the cast. Two years later, another unexpected name was added to the project as Bionic Woman star Lindsey Wagner — who famously did not sign on for projects involving violence — was revealed as a part of the game at E3 2018.
Death Stranding, Kojima Productions’ debut, finally bowed the next year on Nov. 8 2019. The game was well received by critics, securing an 82 Metacritic score, and picked up numerous awards for Kojima’s direction, audio design, musical score and the performances of its stars. In July 2020, the game was ported to PC and reviewed more favorably than its console counterpart, reaching an 86 average Metacritic score.
Since Death Stranding’s PC launch, Kojima Productions has remained quiet, until Wednesday’s five-year anniversary. While the celebration didn’t reveal information on any new projects, the promise of “more to come in 2021” from the studio’s official Twitter kicked off intense speculation from Kojima diehards. After all, the last time Kojima popped up in a December month, his latest game was announced the following June.
Photo courtesy of Kojima Productions