Kojima says Final Farewell to Metal Gear Solid in Emotional Video
September 02, 2015
http://www.polygon.com/2015/9/2/9244141 ... gear-solid
Report: Hideo Kojima has left KonamiWith Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain released to overwhelmingly positive reviews, it seems it is time for series creator Hideo Kojima to say goodbye.
In this touching video, Kojima sits down with some of the talented people he's worked with over the years to discuss the 28-year-old series. Kojima is parting ways with longtime partner Konami with the release of The Phantom Pain after a still undisclosed fallout that resulted in the mothballing of a new Silent Hill game.
While some of this more than 10-minute-long video can get a bit self-aggrandizing, the ending pulls it all back to what Kojima says matters most to him: the fans.
It's an emotional ending you need to make sure to stick around and watch.
October 19, 2015
http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/19/95709 ... gear-solid
Konami says Hideo Kojima is still an employee, just on a vacationHideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid series, has left Konami, according to a report from The New Yorker.
The New Yorker reports that Oct. 9 was Kojima's last day at Konami, citing an anonymous source who said they attended Kojima's farewell party that day at Kojima Productions, his game studio in Tokyo.
Kojima's relationship with Konami began to show strain in March, when the company announced a corporate restructuring that left Kojima's name off the list of directors. He also began hinting at his planned exit from the studio in a series of tweets, while publicly stating his intention to break ties with the Metal Gear series he created.
Konami canceled Kojima's collaboration with Guillermo del Toro, Silent Hills, in April, suggesting further conflict between the parties. Later, in July, Kojima Productions, the studio he founded in 1986, was reportedly disbanded.
Kojima's most recent project with Konami was Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, the final entry in the series. His name, along with his studio's, was removed from the game's box art and other promotional materials.
Following the well-received Metal Gear Solid 5's Sept. 1 launch, Kojima was the focus of a sentimental farewell video, bidding goodbye to the series he oversaw over its entire run.
We have reached out to a representative from Konami for an official confirmation of Kojima's reported departure, and will update with more as we receive it.
For more on the myriad events leading up to Kojima's exit from his longtime home, check out our StoryStream.
October 20, 2015
http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/20/95732 ... n-vacation
Konami confirms closure of Kojima Productions Los Angeles StudioIt might amount to monumental hair-splitting: Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami today denies that game developer Hideo Kojima has left the company.
Instead the company says, according to a Japanese site translated by Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft, that Kojima is on a well-deserved vacation after a protracted stint of development on Metal Gear Solid 5. What they don't say is if Kojima is going to return from this vacation.
"Currently, Kojima is listed as a company employee [at Konami]," according to a translated comment on Tokyo Sports from an unnamed Konami spokesperson. "Currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid 5 and are taking a long time off from work.
"Because the development time for console games is so long and fatigue builds up, it's common for employees to take extended periods of time off when development is finished."
The denial comes after a report in The New Yorker that Kojima had left the building (and company he worked for, after nearly three decades) for a final time earlier this month.
Simon Parkin reported for The New Yorker that there was even a going away party. But Konami writes it has no idea what that party was about.
Parkin responded with a picture of the mystery party.
Here is a photograph of Kojima's farewell party on October 9th at Konami, which Konami claims no knowledge of: pic.twitter.com/xgRUoYs5qt
— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) October 20, 2015
It's possible, perhaps even likely, that technically both Parkin and Konami are correct. Kojima has in fact left, but that his official last day won't be until accrued time off runs out (as well as a rumored non-compete.)
We've reached out to Konami to ask if Kojima will be returning to work after this vacation and will update this story when they respond.
November 03, 2015
http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/3/966723 ... metal-gear
here's a 4 month old article but it makes sense...Konami's L.A.-based development studio, the team formerly known as Kojima Productions Los Angeles, has been closed. Konami confirmed the studio's closure in a statement emailed to Polygon today.
"Konami has made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio, effective immediately, due to the product development resources being restructured into a more centralized unit," Konami said. "This facility contributed to the recent Metal Gear Solid games. Konami will continue its operations to support all Metal Gear Solid titles, including the recently launched Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Online. Metal Gear Online is still scheduled to release for PC Steam in January 2016."
Kojima Productions L.A. officially opened for business in 2013 after a public recruitment campaign. The studio worked on Metal Gear Solid 5 and its competitive multiplayer component, Metal Gear Online.
"The Los Angeles studio emphasizes Konami and Kojima Productions commitment to expanding our development footprint," Konami Digital Entertainment president Tomoyuki Tsuboi said when the studio opened. "The new studio will put Kojima Productions in the heart of the west which will benefit future releases as it will introduce new talent and creativity to the development teams."
Kojima Productions Los Angeles was renamed to Konami Los Angeles Studio earlier this year, when Kojima Productions and Hideo Kojima's names were stripped from Metal Gear Solid websites and box art.
Rumors of Konami Los Angeles Studio's closure circulated on Twitter this week. Sources told Polygon that many staffers left in advance of the developer's closure, once turmoil between Konami and Kojima Productions became public knowledge. Kojima himself reportedly left Konami last month, though the publisher said that the man who created Metal Gear is instead "on vacation."
Understanding What Has Really Happened At Konami
June 2, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder ... at-konami/
^some key points:....Whether Kojima is some kind of amazing game designer is also debatable. Games are made by large numbers of people and while they are directed, the process is cumulative and the result of the talent of the entire team.
That talent still exists within Konami.
What’s more the reports of staff being made redundant are clearly unfounded. As it’s clear Konami want to retain their talent, whether that talent will stay to work on mobile games remains to be seen though.
In addition, while Silent Hills may be no more it’s clear that Konami still want to continue with the series and I’d be very surprised if they’d dump all that was created thus far and not re-use it in some way. The same goes for the future of Metal Gear.
All we are seeing here is what happens when your branding leaves a company as well as a belated and likely misguided shift into mobile gaming. I am sure Kojima will be fine and is probably already in talks with organizations like CAA to help him set up a new studio elsewhere.
As for Konami, this has definitely been a tumultuous period in their company’s history, though the shift into mobile gaming looks to be very risky considering how the market is shaping up in Asia. Whether Konami continues with their console gaming enterprise remains to be seen however and that in itself is a sad footnote to a company that brought a great deal of joy to gamers back in the day.
- Konami is a Family Business, The company owner's son took over and spearheaded the big decision.
- Konami as reported long time ago is moving to mobile gaming.
- MGS is made by talented people that handled by Kojima. Those people are still employed and will be retained by Konami.
..another article, MGS composer's Rika Muranaka's take on the issue:
Farewell sausage: Why Hideo Kojima leaving Konami is a good thing
September 7, 2015
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/what- ... ood-thing/
... Since Konami wants cost-cutting and to cut corners, they have now the opportunity to remake MG1, MG2 and MGS1 to close the whole saga full circle back at Solid Snake. They could utilize the ex-KojiPro staff's talents. And they still have the Fox Engine.If rumours are to be believed, part of the reason Konami and Kojima have been butting heads is because Kojima refuses to compromise, causing the budget to exceed initial plans. Has there ever been a reused asset in a Metal Gear game? Clayton Daley, a co-host of The Codec Podcast, claims to have recently been part of an interview with series composer Rika Muranaka, in which she revealed the following:
“The main reason for the falling out, at least in her opinion, is that Kojima gets paid a salary, and doesn't make any profit share on the game. He gets paid a certain amount no matter what, and he was spending so much money and delaying the project, and adding all these features and making sure the game was the biggest and best thing it could be, and Konami was unhappy with that because [delaying] has no effect on him. He was spending the budget on this and that and upgrading the Fox Engine and then delaying further because the engine wasn't ready, and Konami wasn't happy with that because he gets his salary and he takes a more traditional "Japanese man" approach by not taking a profit share. So in doing that, he gets a little more than a game creator would but doesn't take bonuses from the game selling well…
“In her eyes, Kojima's a fantastic creator, and probably the best creator of his time, but he doesn't have a strong business sense like Konami would like him to have. Where instead of, for example, cutting corners by lowering foliage resolution, he wants to make sure everything looks as good and polished as possible. She said they paid for her to write 30-40 songs that ended up not being used, and he'd tell her to write another one, then another one, then another one, because he settles for what he likes and has a good mind for what people want to see and what people want to hear…â€
