Hideo Kojima ‘Locked in a Separate Room’ During Final 6 Months of Metal Gear Solid 5 Development
To say that the relationship between famed developer Hideo Kojima and publisher Konami is a strained one is an understatement. They say that hate is a strong word but it’s safe to say that Kojima would use it freely when speaking of his former publishing partners. In a recent interview with Glixel, Geoff Keighley, the brains behind The Game Awards, spoke about the Kojima/Konami split and about just how difficult the development process of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain really was.
According to Keighley, Kojima was essentially “locked in a separate room on a different floor than his development team” during the last six months or so of the development. He went on to further explain the full extent of Kojima’s spat with Konami noting that his appearance on last night’s Game Awards (2016 Industry Icon Award Recipient) was a welcome one after Konami’s lawyers banned him from the show last year. If you missed it, there was a fantastic new video revealed for Death Stranding that you absolutely need to check out.
Keighley continued saying, “The fact that he finished that game under those circumstances is just amazing. He couldn’t even talk to [his development team] – he had to talk through someone else. That’s how that game was finished.”
Hearing these developments it’s no surprise whatsoever that Kojima wanted out from under Konami’s thumb. Treatment like that is utterly shameful but really makes us curious as to what happened to let it get that far. For now, we can remain positive that Kojima has moved on to bigger and better things with his own company and a very interesting game on the horizon.