A series of rumors and inside sources have surfaced regarding Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami and the Metal Gear franchise from suspicion of his name not being listed as an executive in Konami’s Japanese website, the tagline ‘A HIDEO KOJIMA GAME’ and any association of Kojima Productions’ logo erased from official related promotion arts, Kojima Productions‘ page now redirected to Konami’s Metal Gear site and even the studios’ twitter page asking it’s followers to follow the new Metal Gear twitter account.
Konami
MGS fans! We’re officially moving accounts to: @metalgear_en Follow us now and don’t miss out on all the latest news! http://t.co/IrqnUOKYds
— Kojima Pro Live (@Kojima_Pro_Live) March 19, 2015
This is the official Twitter for the Metal Gear series. #mgsv #mgsvtpp pic.twitter.com/DzkMy1KJLD
— METAL GEAR OFFICIAL (@Metalgear) March 19, 2015
Even with all these sources of speculation from official promotion arts and images, an unnamed source from Kojima Production spoke to GameSpot about the whole ordeal and states that:
“After we finish MGSV, Mr. Kojima and upper management will leave Konami. They said their contract ends in December.”
The source also states that there is a ”power struggle” between Kojima Production, the higher-ups of Konami and Kojima himself being given more limited access to corporate emails, phone calls and internet use.This in turned is what Konami wants in restructuring itself towards a ”headquarters-controlled system” that emphasis it’s brand over individual studios like Kojima Production.
Konami’s response towards the ordeal to IGN is:
“As we have already announced, we are 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. Konami Digital Entertainment (including Mr. Kojima), will continue to develop and support Metal Gear products. Please look forward to future announcements.”
With all these info in mind, it’s still hasn’t officially been confirmed by Kojima or Konami to the public if the news is true. More info on this matter will be reported here in Stagger’d, so stay tuned!
