Report: Hideo Kojima Starting New Studio With Former Konami Employees [UPDATED]

@dubiouscomet: Of this made me laugh so hard .... he REALLY should call his company this. Can we get him on the phone? Or can someone mod a metal gear game or make a clone where you do this where he leaves a game company to start his own ... of that was classic you win all the Internets and are lucky I didn't choke on my egg while reading it ...

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens next.

So as I am an IP lawyer I can talk about this in America. I have no idea if the laws are different in Japan. In America at least you can not stop someone from using their name for a company. So even though Coke is most certainly trademarked if your last name happens to be Coke you can use Coke as the name of your company (now an interesting argument to make would be if your parents named you Coke to take advantage of Cokes trademark power - not sure how that would pan out). So in America he could use his name, though his old parent company might still be able to all so legally (as a business decision boy would that be stupid though - I can't see how as a company they are anything but done).

Im happy that Kojima and the rest of the developers on the team get to move on. Extremely curious to see what Kojima does next.

Giant Kojima. It's a developer of video games.

He should just goes ahead and make a licensed Escape from New York game.

I hope he stays away from kick starter and makes the game he wants to make, rather then being pressured by internet to fit their ideal version of his game. If Kojima can't get money and right deal from publishers then industry is truly fucked.

I just want another ZOE

@dubiouscomet: yes

@tracerx: At the end of the day, Kojima always has to answer to his investors...

@zaldar: Nikkei is the Japanese stock market and unless Kickstarter was able to raise an insane amount of money more than any Kickstarter has raised, then no Kojima probably wouldn't be able to afford Metal Gear Solid.

Keep it simple, Hideo.

Finally, we will get the bikini-girls poster finding game we always wanted.

I can't wait for Alloy Cog to come out on the Playstation 5

@zaldar: uh pretty sure that's the exact opposite of what I learned in my intro business Law class as well as general business intro. You can be sued for predatory practices and trademark infringement if you attempt to use the name to confuse consumers. Also if you want to use the name and it's from a well known company as you say like coke they can sue you under anti dissolution laws. A simple Google search will reveal this under these torts.

"Creating noodle game with @Sony. It will implement the sense of smell and fear."

Dec 15 2055 - konami denies kojima has left company has extended his vacation another month.

Possible studio name: "Hideo Games Inc."

or something that is a shameless David Bowie reference like "Scary Monsters Productions."

Damnit Austin that ZOE caption is the greatest thing. I love it!

hmm, dunno much about this guy. didnt he make a game about cops in space

Good luck to Kojima and crew.

I think it's time for Kojima to try something entirely new in his signature, zany style. He is no longer with Konami, so his new work would do well to reflect that.

I think I'd quite like to see a Swery/Kojima calibration.

To be pedantic, Nikkei is the newspaper which publishes the stock market index. But yeah, It's the biggest financial newspaper in the world, the equivalent of the Financial Times (which they also own, in fact) or the Wall Street Journal, so you can safely assume this is 100% true.

That is nothing but good news. When it comes to video games, in Kojima I trust.

More boktai or something similar please!

I legitimately want a spiritual successor to Boktai. No one understands my pain.

Excited to see what he does next. Glad he just didn't disappear.

silent.hills.please. ?

I'm just here to say the words "spiritual successor to Zone of the Enders."

It's interesting to see what a guy like Kojima would do on a Kickstarter. I assume with his huge budgets, it may be tough to get the infinite funding he apparently used to get.

Igarashi and Inafune did a whole lot of work in the 2D plane, but Kojima has done blockbuster, large-scale games for so long that I don't know how that would translate to a more modest budget. But hell, MGS1 was basically just Metal Gear with polygons so he can pull off tight gameplay design if he can't match the bombast on his own.

Or who knows, Kojima's name was all over MGS V so maybe enough mainstream people will recognize him to warrant a crazy investment from somewhere.

Kojima's first game will be a social adventure where you set a half-dozen conspiracies against each other through bribes, misinformation, and a few choice words.

Seriously, I think Kojima will be fine. He's done a large variety of work from Snatcher to Boktai to Tokimeki Memorial. I think his lack of non-blockbuster games over the past decade has more to do with Konami business decisions than a lack of skill/motivation.

Playstation VR game by Hideo Kojima, I'm calling it now.

Man, the biggest bummer is we'll probably never get a Metal Gear Rising sequel. ;__;

@avantegardener: that would be amazing!!!

It'd be cool to see him do more things like Snatcher or Policenauts. Stuff that's not terribly heavy on gameplay, stuff that allows him to have weirdness drip out of his every orifice.

Tasty, tasty Kojima goop.

Look at Nier 2. Seriously.

Nevermind if you've never played the first Nier or anything like that, the point is that it's basically another Revengeance.

I still want Kojima to be able to do high-production-value games. One of the best things about Kojima games is how big and bombastic they can be.

I also hope he is still able to mostly do whatever he wants; Metal Gear all the way up to V was about subverting people's expectations, and not just doing what the fans wanted.

Boktai 4 kickstarter on E3 next year.

I don't think he'll end up on kickstarter. You're saying that as a comparison to Inafune, Suzuki and Itagaki but none of those dudes were anywhere near the top of their field at that point. Kojima just delivered one of the best action games of modern times and in technically excellent condition, so either of the console makers and even some of the bigger pubs will make a play for him. In fact you're nuts if you think they haven't been talking for months already.

Update: I fucking told you so! Vindicated.

@dubiouscomet: This is the best thing ever. As a dad I can appreciate this joke more than the childless cretins out there.

I haven't been a real Kojima fan lately, but I do realize the guy can be brilliant. I think a jaunt into survival or action horror, or say something way different, say, an RPG would be worth looking at. I do hope he sticks with PC/console games only because it would seem many Japanese developers are abandoning that. In principle at least I like the potentially different perspective from western developed games.

@moonwalksa: Nier is nothing like revengeance in terms of combat or gameplay. Apart from being third person Nier 2 will have nothing in common with Revengeance, thankfully.

Alloy Cog Stable?

@zaldar:

Nikkei is a Japanese stock market index, maintained by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper since 1950 and they release 'Nikkei reports' related to business from time to time. They're pretty reliable.

Asked it in one of the other threads, but do non-compete clauses not apply in Japan? Would be surprised that Konami wouldn't go out of their way to do that, even if they aren't a 'games company' any longer.

If at all possible, I would like something along the lines of Z.O.E. as much as I love MGS I feel as though that series has been left to the wayside. I'm also optimistic for something entirely different. Guess we'll see!

@jeffgerstfanSpeaking as a childless cretin: thank you.

This whole falling out with Konami might work out for Kojima. He won't be pressured to make more games in a series he doesn't have the rights to, and he has strong fan support. I don't think it'll be hard for him to find a publisher; there's not a lot of auteur game devs out there..

I would like if he made a clock repair simulator. You would be replacing Metal GearS!