It was being reported this morning that Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has officially parted ways with Konami as of the 20 October.
Konami, on the other hand, is denying the report, claiming instead that the famed director is chilling on holiday. Well, he’s “on vacation” apparently, but you get the idea.
“Currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid V and are taking a long time off from work,” a Konami spokesperson has confirmed. With the publisher later noting to Tokyo Sports that, “currently, Kojima is a listed as a company employee [at Konami].”
To be honest, it isn’t clear what’s going on. Konami insists “because the development time for console games is so long and fatigues builds up, it’s common for employees to take extended periods of time of when development is finished,” though this long vacation could be a tactic to try and remove some of the media attention that has built up around the company.
As it stands, some outlets are reporting that he’s already left, others are saying he is still there and then there’s a few that say his non-compete clause in his contract expires in December. Either way, it probably won’t be long before the truth emerges.
Until we see a Kojima selfie from the beach, and the great man himself tweeting about some tasty ice cream, we aren’t believing anything.
