Kojima: "My role in this world is to keep on making big games for as long as I can"
And he can do it quicker independently, he says.
Hideo Kojima was apparently considering a tranquil year on a deserted island following his recent departure from Konami (and completion of Metal Gear Solid 5) - until a pep talk by a Hollywood friend changed his mind. Keep it up, the friend urged, you owe your talent that much. "Hearing that affirmed to me that my role in this world is to keep on making big games for as long as I can," Kojima told Simon Parkin for the New Yorker. "That is the mission I've been given in life." And that, I expect, will be a relief for his fans to hear.
Kojima also said this: "Now that I'm independent, I can do what I want with much more speed. I don't need to invest time in unnecessary presentations." And that will be even more of a relief to hear. None of this approval needed from the many rungs of Konami's ladder, none of this muzzling in interviews because he represented Konami as well as himself.
Parkin's piece didn't give further information about Kojima's new game - a collaboration with Sony and therefore a console exclusive on PS4 (but also planned for PC) - but did say the new Kojima Productions only employs four people and has no office, which means there's a long way to go before anything resembling a game starts materialising.
The article also touched upon Kojima's childhood and how he moved around Japan a lot when he was young, making him, as Parkin remarked, "no stranger to fresh starts". And we also now know Kojima used to watch US television shows Little House on the Prairie, and Bewitched. I'm not sure what to do with that information but it feels important.
Kojima was synonymous with Konami and had been since the original Metal Gear arrived in 1987, nearly 30 years ago. He set up the first Kojima Productions in 2005. But his employment at Konami was officially terminated this week following months of speculation and reports of strained relations. It resulted in Metal Gear Solid 5 feeling like a fantastic but unfinished swan song.
