The issues with Konami and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima have been fairly well documented but show no sign of ending. In the latest report from Japanese news outlet Nikkei (via My Game News Flash), Konami apparently isn’t happy with Kojima’s comments on Metal Gear Survive, the upcoming survival spin-off.
Kojima’s comments essentially said, “it’s totally unrelated to me, right? Um, how should I put this? Well, for me, Metal [Gear] is espionage with political fiction. Right? So, because of that, there’s no reason that zombies would show up.” Konami took umbrage to this apparently, stating in a letter to Kojima that, “You are unfairly sullying the reputation of our company.” The reaction to Metal Gear Survive at the Tokyo Game Show where it was unveiled didn’t help.
It also seems that Kojima Productions isn’t able to join the Kanto IT Software Health Insurance Association, which offers discounts on health insurance to over 7000 companies. This is apparently due to Konami, which is a big player in the organization thanks to its sports clubs. The Kanto IT Software Health Insurance Association responded with, “We are unable to comment on this issue.”
Furthermore, Konami is telling game companies to be wary of former Konami staff and that Japanese TV stations should disregard them. Even worse, it’s saying that former employees shouldn’t be referred to as “formerly of Konami” when talking about their career history in any new work.
Konami and Kojima Productions haven’t offered any comments on any of these issues but given Nikkei’s coverage of the former’s practices with employees, it’s hard to not see them in a negative light. What are your thoughts on all this? Let us know in the comments.