Hideo Kojima Has Officially Left Konami

While the report hones in on the mechanisms behind the auteur’s departure from Konami – mobile games, exploding console budgets, and so on – it states that the Metal Gear Solid maker left his workplace of nearly 30 years for the last time on 9th October. Allegedly, the publisher’s president Hideki Hayakawa and chief executive Sadaaki Kaneyoshi were not in attendance. Kojima had worked at Konami for over three decades, and was the visionary responsible for masterminding a number of successful franchises, the most popular of which being Metal Gear Solid. “Mobile is where the future of gaming lies”.

The news, though unsurprising, confirms the end of an era. Silent Hills was eventually canceled in April and P.T., the playable teaser for the survival horror game being developed by Kojima Productions alongside film director Guillermo Del Toro, was removed from the PlayStation Store.

Konami have alluded to the fact that there’s more to come for Metal Gear in the past, although it is unclear if they meant the story campaign or new multiplayer mode, Metal Gear Online.

Whatever the reasons for Kojima leaving are, the interesting thing is his non-compete clause which will expire in December. “The growing cost of console development, allied to a shrinking domestic market, have made these games increasingly unviable without global success”, said David McCarthy of Cybird, a Tokyo-based developer.