Pioneering game developer Hideo Kojima and former employer, the Japanese publisher Konami, should bury the hatchet and get back to working together, EA COO Peter Moore thinks.
“I’ve always liked Kojima-san. I got on with him during my days at Microsoft. I just think… what’s going on there… I just think both of them should kiss and make up,” Moore replied.
“From my experience, and I’ve spent a lot of time working in Japan, I think that Konami and Kojima will figure it out. Those kinds of business relationships [in Japan] are typically for life, and Kojima is such an important part in what has gone on there.”
That said, he did say he understood the nexus of the problem, and that an understanding between the developer and publisher on costs and release dates must be made.
“Clearly, Kojima and Konami are at a rocky stage in their marriage,” he said, “but you could take what is said about [Kojima Productions], about a game not adhering to budgets, about a game not being ready, and you could apply that to a lot of people.”
He continued: “Any game that isn’t iterative in nature the way an EA Sports game is, or any series that doesn’t ship every single year… those things can go on forever. There needs to be an agreement between the publisher and developer to make sure that both parties understand when the game is supposed to ship, and what it’s supposed to be. But with regards to Kojima and Konami, they’ll kiss and make up. They’ll be fine.”
Personally, I think he’s being a bit too optimistic, but we’ll see.