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Hideo Kojima Had A ‘Large Game Proposal’ Rejected After ‘Death Stranding’

Mike Diver

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Hideo Kojima Had A ‘Large Game Proposal’ Rejected After ‘Death Stranding’

Featured Image Credit: Konami, Kojima Productions

A lot of games-loving folk out there hold Hideo Kojima up as a creator par excellence. And it sure is true that the Japanese designer, director and writer has some impressive credits to his name.

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He near-enough single-handedly guided the Metal Gear (Solid) series to its greatest successes; his graphic adventure games for Konami, Policenauts and Snatcher, are classics of their kind, well overdue a rerelease; and 2019's Death Stranding, the debut title from his own Kojima Productions studio, has won a host of gaming industry awards.

But in a new (May 29) interview with livedoor.com (it's in Japanese, by the way), Kojima reveals that not everything he touches turns to gold. Or at least, not without a lot of work - which, no doubt, 99% of game creators out there will relate to. As picked up and translated by siliconera, Kojima told livedoor:

"Quite recently, a large game proposal of mine was rejected, so I'm feeling a bit annoyed. Well, it's something that happens often in this industry."

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Death Stranding / Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment, Kojima Productions
Death Stranding / Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment, Kojima Productions

And yes, it does! Many a project, many a game, ultimately never gets beyond its most primitive planning stages, for a host of reasons. It's just not that common that we hear from someone generally regarded as one of the highest-profile individuals in the business as encountering someone telling them, "no". (Insert your own comment about how Death Stranding might have benefitted from a few more people saying "no", here.)

In the same interview, which was also picked up by videogamer.com, Kojima denies rumours that he/Kojima Productions is negotiating the rights for Metal Gear Solid and P.T. away from Konami. "Those (rumours) are completely fake," he said, before adding: "At the very least, I haven't heard of this at all."

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Kojima Productions has done alright, money wise, off the back of Death Stranding - which launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in November 2019 with publishing from Sony Interactive Entertainment and arrives on PC this July via 505 Games - but it's unlikely the studio would have the capital to prize something like the MGS series away from Konami.

Snatcher / Credit: Konami
Snatcher / Credit: Konami

"We've secured as much profit as possible (on Death Stranding) in preparation for what's next," Kojima commented. And if I may be so bold, Kojima-san: if you were to go to Konami with some wads of yen in your pockets, how about making it enough to put out Policenauts and Snatcher again? I know, I'm a broken record on this stuff. But imagine them on Switch! It's free money! Probably!

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Back in March, we heard that Kojima was working again with Death Stranding actor Norman Reedus, leading to speculation that the pair were to resurrect their aborted Silent Hills project - canned by Konami in 2015. But let's be honest with ourselves: Reedus would make a fine voice for a reborn Gillian Seed. No? Just me?

Fine.

Topics: Konami, Death Stranding, Kojima Productions

Mike Diver
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