Hideo Kojima says he was "opposed by everyone" when starting his own company eight years ago.
Earlier this month marked the eighth anniversary of Kojima Productions, founded by Hideo Kojima just two months after Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain released under Konami. Now, Kojima has penned an essay-length tweet discussing his feelings about going "independent" from Konami eight years ago.
The game director reveals he was "opposed by everyone," including friends and family when he told them he was starting his own company. "They said it was impossible without the financial and organizational strength of a company," Kojima adds in the tweet below.
The reason why I am independent and advocate a life-long career is because for me, "creating things" is no longer a job. That's why there is no retirement. Creating things is living. One more thing. In the game industry, there are very few people who have succeeded in becoming… pic.twitter.com/48v9uWOk01December 16, 2023
"However, someone must prove that that is an old-fashioned way of thinking. Young creators must be given freedom of choice," the game director continues. Another point of the tweet is asserting that Kojima's career is a lifelong one and that he plans to continue making games until he physically can't anymore.
The details are a little murky, but it's worth pointing out Kojima Productions was founded in December 2015 in a joint announcement with Sony Interactive Entertainment. Perhaps not "everyone" was opposed to Kojima founding his own company after all.
Most recently, Kojima Productions announced OD, a new horror game the director is making with Jordan Peele. Elsewhere, the development of Death Stranding 2 presumably rumbles on, though it's been over a year since we've seen or heard anything from the upcoming sequel. Kojima's even working with A24 on a Death Stranding movie, and it won't directly adapt the original game.
Kojima previously said Death Stranding 2 would change the meaning of "strand," whatever that meant in the first place.
