Kojima Productions

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Kojima Productions Co., Ltd.
Private
Industry
Founded
  • April 1, 2005
    (As Konami subsidiary)
  • December 16, 2015 (Independent)
Founder Hideo Kojima
Headquarters Tokyo, Japan
Website kojimaproductions.jp

Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. (Japanese: コジマプロダクション Hepburn: Kojima Purodakushon?, formerly 小島プロダクション) is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 2005 by video game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series. The company was originally a subsidiary of Konami, and was located in Roppongi Hills in Roppongi, Tokyo.[1] The studio had just under 100 employees in 2005, but had since grown to over 200 people for the development of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.[2][3] The company took its original logo from the emblem of the FOX unit, which first appeared in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Kojima Productions temporarily disbanded in 2015 following a company restructuring at Konami. In December of that year, Kojima's employment contract with Konami was officially terminated. He subsequently reformed Kojima Productions as a new independent studio.[4]

History

Under Konami

File:Kojima Pro Logo.png
Kojima Productions' logo under Konami; the emblem is based upon that of the FOX unit, as introduced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The developer was formed on April 1, 2005, after Konami merged several of its subsidiaries including Hideo Kojima's team at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (KCEJ).[5]

The company was intended to relieve Kojima of the business management and administrative responsibilities he had previously as KCEJ's vice president. As the head of Kojima Productions, Kojima is able to focus solely on creating games.[5] He stated:

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"To elaborate a little bit more, I am now in a position within Konami as one of the members of the board, and it's true that I do have a responsibility, and also respect, within the company. However, when I say as a creator, "I want to create this new game", it's still the same as twenty years ago! People still ask, "will that sell, will that be good?" Nobody really understands whether it would be an instant hit or whatever. I'm not just talking about the top executives, but even the development staff! But that is my challenge, actually. That's what's interesting. They do not understand what they cannot see instantly, so they can't say "that's a great idea" straight away. That's my challenge, and my satisfaction when I present to them, saying I want to create this new thing. And if I get more 'boos' about it - if they say, "No! We don't know what you're talking about!" then this is actually the fun part.[6]

Kenichiro Imaizumi (producer), Yumi Kikuchi (model), and Hideo Kojima showcasing Metal Gear Solid 4 in 2007

The company completed and released Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection, a compilation of Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 and Peace Walker. They also released Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for the Nintendo 3DS as a port of the original game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. In early 2014, they released Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Closure

On March 16, 2015, Konami announced that they had restructured their video game development operations to "[shift] our production structure to a headquarters-controlled system, in order to establish a steadfast operating base capable of responding to the rapid market changes that surround our digital entertainment business." The same day, references to Kojima and Kojima Productions were stripped from promotional material and websites relating to the Metal Gear series, Kojima's Los Angeles studio was renamed Konami Los Angeles Studio, a new Metal Gear Solid Twitter account without a reference to Kojima in its username was established, and the Kojima Productions website began to redirect to the Metal Gear Solid website instead. That day, Kojima also posted a photo on his personal Twitter account captioned "heading off", and a Konami filing stated that as of April 1, 2015, he would no longer be among Konami's executive officers. These actions led to speculation that Kojima was planning on leaving the company after the release of The Phantom Pain, which he has described as being a conclusion of the Metal Gear series.[7][8]

On March 19, an anonymous employee reported to GameSpot that these changes were a result of conflicts between Kojima and Konami. The employee stated that Kojima and his staff were now being treated as contracted workers rather than employees, Konami had blocked access to their corporate e-mail and phone systems (thus restricting their communications), and that Kojima and the studio's senior staff planned to leave Konami in December 2015 following the conclusion of their contracts and the release of The Phantom Pain.[7] A Konami spokesperson denied that Kojima was leaving the company, and stated that he would still be involved with Konami and the Metal Gear franchise.[8]

On March 20, Konami made a public statement on its website, stating that Kojima would be staying with the company through at least the completion of The Phantom Pain, and they were recruiting new staff to lead the development of future Metal Gear games.[9] Kojima himself confirmed in a statement that he was still "100% involved" in the completion of The Phantom Pain, and was "determined to make it the greatest game I've directed to date."[10] MGS V voice actress Donna Burke claimed in a posting on Twitter that Kojima had actually been fired, although Konami denied these claims and Burke revoked her statement.[11]

On July 10, 2015, Akio Ōtsuka, who provided the Japanese-language voices of Solid Snake and Naked Snake, tweeted that Kojima Productions had closed its doors and the studio will not seek any future activity nor will it partner up on any future Konami-based projects.[12]

In December 2015, Kojima Productions was nominated for Developer of the Year at The Game Awards 2015, but lost out to CD Projekt RED.[13] Kojima was reportedly blocked from attending the event by Konami's lawyers, requiring voice actor Kiefer Sutherland to accept awards for The Phantom Pain on his behalf.[14]

Independent reformation

On December 16, 2015, in a joint announcement with Sony Computer Entertainment, Kojima announced that a new Kojima Productions (コジマプロダクション) would be established as an independent studio with other former Konami staff members, including artist Yoji Shinkawa and producer Kenichiro Imaizumi.[15] The studio also announced that it would be developing a new franchise, the first title of which will be console exclusive to the PlayStation 4.[16] Kojima stated that he "will be taking on a new challenge by establishing my own independent studio, and I am thrilled to be able to embark on this journey with PlayStation, who I have continued to work with all these past years."[17]

Games

Though Kojima had produced games at Konami since 1987, the "Kojima Productions" studio was not formed until 2005. However, Konami retroactively refers to Kojima's earlier productions as belonging to the studio.[18] All Kojima Productions games released until 2015 were published by Konami.

As Konami
Year Title Platform Note
1987 Metal Gear MSX2 Released only in Japan and Europe. Ported to the Famicom/NES by a separate team after its initial release.
1988 Snatcher PC-8801, MSX2
1990 SD Snatcher MSX2
1990 Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake MSX2
1992 Snatcher CD-ROMantic PC Engine Remake of the original Snatcher with an expanded ending and added voice acting. Ported to the Sega CD by another team for the overseas market.
1994 Policenauts PC-9801, 3DO, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
As Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Year Title Platform Note
1998 Metal Gear Solid PlayStation
1999 Metal Gear Solid: Integral PlayStation, Microsoft Windows Expanded version of the original Metal Gear Solid featuring a third disc of bonus missions
2000 Metal Gear: Ghost Babel Game Boy Color
2001 Zone of the Enders PlayStation 2
2001 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty PlayStation 2
2002 The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 PlayStation 2
2002 Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
2003 Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner PlayStation 2
2003 Boktai Game Boy Advance
2004 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes GameCube Co-produced with Silicon Knights
2004 Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django Game Boy Advance
2004 Metal Gear Acid PlayStation Portable
2004 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater PlayStation 2
As Kojima Productions (Konami subsidiary)
Year Title Platform Notes
2005 Shin Bokura no Taiyō: Gyakushu no Sabata Game Boy Advance Third game in the Boktai series that was released only in Japan. Also known as Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack.
2005 Metal Gear Acid 2 PlayStation Portable
2005 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence PlayStation 2
2006 Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore Nintendo DS
2006 Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel PlayStation Portable
2006 Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops PlayStation Portable
2007 Lunar Knights Nintendo DS Fourth game in the Boktai series, which was retitled for its overseas release
2007 Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus PlayStation Portable
2008 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PlayStation 3
2008 Metal Gear Online PlayStation 3
2009 Gaitame Baibai Trainer: Kabutore FX Nintendo DS
2009 Metal Gear Solid Touch iOS
2010 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PlayStation Portable
2010 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows Co-produced with Mercury Stream
2011 Metal Gear Solid HD Collection PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita HD conversions of MGS2, MGS3 and Peace Walker. The Vita versions only includes MGS2 and MGS3. In Japan, Peace Walker was given a separate retail release for PS3 and Xbox 360.
2012[19] Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D Nintendo 3DS
2012 Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops Mobile
2012 Zone of the Enders HD Collection PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2013 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows Co-produced with PlatinumGames
2013 Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection PlayStation 3 Compilation that includes all the titles in the HD Collection, plus MGS4 and a voucher code for the original MGS and its expansion
2014 Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
2014 P.T. PlayStation 4 "Playable teaser" for the cancelled Silent Hills; credited under the pseudonym "7780s Studio"
2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
As Kojima Productions (independent studio)
Year Title Platform Notes
TBD Untitled new project PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows First game to not be affiliated with Konami[20]

References

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External links

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