Hideo Kojima is now an indie developer, will make his next game for Playstation

Image credit: Georges Seguin

Fan-favorite games creator Hideo Kojima’s game development studio Kojima Productions is now independent, and its first game will be released exclusively on Sony’s Playstation 4 platform. Earlier today, a report from Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei indicated that the creator’s contract with games publisher Konami had run its course, and Kojima was free to pursue other activities.

A previous article in The New Yorker claimed Kojima had been laid off by the company, but his contract contained a non-compete clause until December 2015. Kojima confirmed that yesterday, December 15, was the termination date for his contract, marking “a new start” for the veteran games developer.

Konami hasn’t shed additional light on how it handled Kojima’s departure, but Game Awards organizer Geoff Keighley noted the creator’s absence from that event a couple of weeks ago. Keighley said that Kojima had been barred from attending by his then-employer.

The news was released via an official Playstation video, where Sony Computer Entertainment president and global CEO Andrew House announced (in fluent Japanese, no less) that Kojima Productions is developing a game for the Playstation 4 console. Kojima himself mentioned the studio will work on a new franchise “that will give you all a new and innovative gaming experience.” House mentioned that Sony will offer the new Kojima Productions its “full support” on the project, without getting into specifics.

While no details are available on what the upcoming game will be or what the partnership will entail, this will certainly earn Sony some major good will from Kojima’s longtime fans who have grown increasingly concerned at his former employer Konami’s apparent “blacklisting” of the creator and its [gradual departure](from console gaming.

It remains to be seen whether this means that a collaboration between Kojima, director Guillermo Del Toro, and manga creator Junji Ito for the cancelled Silent Hills project can be resurrected for a possible new IP.