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This came as no surprise really. At least not for me, as Kojima has hinted us in the past that his going to leave the MGS series (and Konami) at one point or another (Kojima has had apprentices for quite sometime now).

Because let´s face it, Kojima ain´t exactly a youngster anymore, his 51. And his been working at Konami since 1986, that´s 29 years of hard work.

However, i (and many other´s) got surprised to hear that there´s a power struggle within Konami.

As there seems to be a collision of interest between Kojima Productions and Konami. And that has resulted in restricted access to corporate e-mails, internet, phone calls, data and documents.

And that incident alone made Kojima leave Konami (it´s said that Kojima could be leaving Konami before the end of this year). That would also explain why Konami is hiring (a new studio head) for a brand new Metal Gear series.

It seems like MGS5 will be Kojima´s very last MGS title in his career.

So it´s very likely that “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” will be the very last MGS title that Kojima will be involved in.

And this power struggle between Konami and Kojima Productions is going to hurt the PR side of things for sure.

As Kojima will have limited opportunities to do promotions (and such) for Metal Gear Solid 5 (which is set for a release to PS4, PS3, 360 and Xbox One on the 1 of September, the PC-version won´t be out until the 15th of September though).

This sounds pretty rough if you ask me, and this is what an inside source told Gamespot:

“After we finish MGSV, Mr. Kojima and upper management will leave Konami. They said their contract ends in December,” the source claimed.

The person added: “At a team meeting, Mr Kojima explained that team have to be one and make a good game for fans.”

And this is what Konami had to say about all of this:

“As we have already announced, we are shifting our production structure to a headquarters-controlled system, in order to establish a steadfast operating base capable of responding to the rapid market changes that surround our digital entertainment business. Konami Digital Entertainment (including Mr. Kojima), will continue to develop and support Metal Gear products. Please look forward to future announcements.”

I don´t know if it´s just me, but it seems like Konami has been bleeding talent for a long time now (not even Akira Yamaoka works there anymore).

So one should ask him/herself, is there life after Kojima? And will Konami be able to fill out his shoes after his departure from the MGS series?

Source:
Gamespot

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround