'Metal Gear Solid' Creator Hideo Kojima Leaves Konami to Create Kojima Productions, Collaborates with Sony PlayStation
Hideo Kojima, creator of the "Metal Gear Solid" series, has finally announced his departure from Konami. He has started his own studio, Kojima Productions, and has confirmed his collaboration with Sony.
Kojima confirmed the news on Tuesday, Dec. 15, through a short video (below) uploaded to the Sony PlayStation YouTube channel. The video starts off with Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment president, introducing Kojima as "one of the most creative talents in the history of games" and creator of a series that has contributed to PlayStation's history.
"I'm happy to let you know that I have established my own independent studio today," Kojima says. Kojima is now the director and game designer of Kojima Productions.
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"And I'm excited to tell you that the first title from this studio is a collaboration with PlayStation," he says. "I'm thrilled to embark on creating a new franchise with PlayStation that will give you all a new and innovative gaming experience so please stay tuned."
The first game that will release from Kojima Productions will launch exclusively on Sony consoles, according to Ars Technica. Citing a Q&A that has been taken down, the publication also clarifies that Kojima's new studio is not a subsidiary of Sony and its subsequent games may not necessarily be a PlayStation exclusive anymore. But as for the first one, Kojima reportedly described it as "something completely new." The game will also be available to the PC some time after it releases on the PS4.
Kojima is best known as the creator of the popular series "Metal Gear Solid." His departure from Konami has been the subject of news reports these past few months.
Meanwhile, Konami is already thinking about design, development team, and platforms for the series, according to Bloomberg. The Japanese company, through its spokesman Takayuki Kurumada, said it has yet to decide what Kojima's role, if any, will be in the new development of the series.
