hideo kojima

Even if you hate where you work, count your lucky stars that you don't work for Konami.

A report from the Japanese outlet Nikkei recently found out some terrible employment practices from the legacy video game company behind some enormous titles like the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill franchises. Kotaku kindly translated it for our English consumption.

Nikkei's report alleges that the culture at the corporation's video game division, famous for its console games, worsened in around 2010 when a mobile title called Dragon Collection became a smash hit. As a social game for phones, development costs were low and profit returns were huge. Not long after, the report says, Konami's corporate bosses shifted the company's focus away from traditional, hardcore games and towards cheaper, and potentially more lucrative social titles.

The allegations from the report cover some of the following crazy details:

• The studio behind the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V use computers allegedly not connected to the internet and are only able to send internal messages.



• Employees are monitored during their lunch break with time cards and if they take too long, their names are announced to the whole company.



• There are cameras in the office not for security, but rather to monitor the movements of the company's employees.



• Most Konami employees don't have their own permanent company email addresses, instead are given a randomized one that changes every few months.



• If game developers aren't thought to be useful at that time, they are reassigned to jobs as security guards, cleaners or in pachinko machine factories.



• The report describes one former employee who announced leaving the company on Facebook and then all the fellow employees who "liked" the status were reassigned into new jobs within the company.

CRAZY, right?

And it sounds like it's at least partly true from game journalists in the know.

The Nikkei report on Konami lines up very well with a lot of what I've heard from employees before. It sounds rough there.

— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) August 3, 2015

Konami has run into a swath of recent fan turmoil. First by systematically removing Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima from having anything to do with the company. And second, by ending the Guillermo Del Toro revamp of the Silent Hill series after the well-received P.T.demo.

Many speculate that Kojima is trying to focus on its less costly business endeavors like it's chain of fitness centers and its many pachinko machines.

Japan's Nikkei Newspaper is reporting that Hideo Kojima's days at Konami are finally done, so we can all be free from the emotional roller coaster that has been rumors of his departure from the game company.

After countless reports of mistreatment, weird branding moves that minimized Kojima's involvement in his own series, and that one time Konami tried to pretend he was just on vacation, it looks like Kojima's really left Konami, and he's starting his own company!

From Nikkei, translated by NeoGAF user Zefah:

Kojima Hideo, a famous video game creator known for the Metal Gear series has left Konami Digital Entertainment as of December 15th. He will form a new company where he will continue developing video games, with plans to release on platforms such as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE)'s PlayStation. He is forming the new company with people who worked under him at Konami. The rights to the Metal Gear series, for which he is most known, remain at Konami, so he will begin working on an all new title. Final negotiations with SCE are underway for this new game to debut on PlayStation.

I for one can't wait to see what he does with a new series. What about you?

Rumors have been floating around that Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is leaving Konami, after he said he's done with the series, and the brand is attempting to minimalize the appearance of his name on the latest Metal Gear Solid game:

Kojima's games typically feature heavy branding as "A Hideo Kojima Game," but advertisements of The Phantom Pain have recently been changed to remove that branding.  Additionally, news has surfaced that Kojima will no longer be an executive at Konami as of April 1st.  Though they haven't explicitly stated he's leaving the company, Konami released the following statement that all but confims it:

To Customers,

Thank you for your continued patronage of KONAMI products and services.

The latest title in the METAL GEAR series,“METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN” (below, “MGSV: TPP”), will be released as planned starting on Tuesday, September 1^st, 2015 in North America, Latin America, and Europe, followed by Japan and Asia on Wednesday, September 2^nd. Hideo Kojima will remain involved throughout.

Hideo Kojima stated, "I want to reassure fans that I am 100% involved and will continue working on METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN; I’m determined to make it the greatest game I’ve directed to date. Don’t miss it!"

In addition, KONAMI will continue to develop and distribute top-quality content in the METAL GEAR series following “MGSV: TPP.” We greatly anticipate and deeply appreciate your ongoing support for METAL GEAR.

As the next step in the series, KONAMI has already resolved to develop new “METAL GEAR”.

We will be conducting interviews for main staff to lead the development.

Hideo Kojima's been nothing if not committed to teasing us all with slow reveals of Kojima Production's mascot, Ludens. See below for the previous teased full-body shot of Ludens:

So, it would seem Burke is adamant in her claim Kojima was fired by Konami execs, but this morning a response from Konami came in to Videogamer.com

Via Videogamer.com:

A Konami representative has denied Burke's claims, telling VideoGamer.com that the suggestion Kojima has been fired is "categorically incorrect".

With no easy answers out there at the moment, it looks like this whole debacle will continue to be shrouded in mystery. Just like an episode of the X-Files.

Even though creator Hideo Kojima has been pushed out of his project, Konami is still letting him edit and direct these trailers.

If you want more, plenty other trailers have come out for the game.

But at this point, you're probably better off waiting for its Sept. 1 release.

How rude!

It comes as no surprise after all the Konami/Kojima drama, but the Hideo Kojima branding has been removed from the cover of Metal Gear Solid V. All of Hideo Kojima's games typically feature his production logo and "A Hideo Kojima Game" prominently on the cover, but MGSV appears to be without it. Here's the previous version for comparison:



Shame on you, Konami.

As spotted by constablegrimes, if you go ahead and play both trailers side-by side (which is possible through YouTube Doubler) you'll quickly note that the baby originally held by Crying Norman Reedus transports itself into the hands of Guillermo del Toro in the other trailer, at the exact same moment.

What the heck is happening?

Mere hours after the widely well-received trailer reveal from Hideo Kojima for his new game Death Stranding, Norman Reedus took to Instagram to lay down an extra dash of hurt directly intended for Konami. 

Konami and Kojima ended their professional working relationship with one another just after Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain came out last year. Their relationship got so bad that Kojima ended up being prevented entrance from The Game Awards last year, which still has some people pretty dang riled up. Reedus no doubt managed to get a strong final word in on the matter...

The prop, named "Lu#2," was used in the announcement trailer for Kojima Production's debut PlayStation 4 and PC game, "Death Stranding."

If you missed out on playing PT when it was available, now's your chance to get your hands on the canceled project's demo. Follow a detailed guide here, but know that it's not exactly legal to do. Sony prohibits the use of third party/sharing apps, but your risk of being banned is pretty low.