Konami vs. Hideo Kojima

The development comes days after Solid Snake voice actor Akio Otsuka claimed that the studio will disband after completing Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

Maybe in the near future, all of our questions will be answered and we will know what exactly went down between Kojima and Konami.

Konami’s symbolic erasure of Hideo Kojima and his studio now includes the final box art for what will likely be the last game he makes for them.

This is a slap in the face of one of gaming’s few auteurs; Hideo Kojima. It will be interesting to see if and when Konami and Kojima will acknowledge this rift, and what both parties will do moving forward assuming this is the end of their long-term relationship.

Kojima’s name was removed from The Phantom Pain’s website back in March.

Oh wait, it already exists. As great as Hideo Kojima is as a person and as a game creator, slapping your name prominently on the cover of a video game that teams of hundreds helped to create always felt like an egotistical move, similar to naming movies “A Spike Lee Joint”.

For his part, Martin Schneider, general manager at Konami Digital Entertainment, confirmed that “Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” and “Pro Evolution Soccer 2016” will be available for the public to play for the first time at this year’s Gamescon event on August 5 to 9 at Cologne, Germany, and that´s the kind of line-up that reportedly packs a punch.

“I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to say ‘Kept you waiting, huh?’ (Laughs.) But even if this is the end, Metal Gear Solid is immortal!” “Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” is brought to vivid life with realistic weather patterns and day/night cycles. Those in attendance at gamescom 2015 will even get to try it out nearly a month early, too.