Kojima Productions

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kojima Productions
legal form Subsidiary of Konami (2005-2015)
Independent (since 2015)
founding April 1, 2005
December 2015 (newly founded)
resolution 2015
Reason for dissolution Group restructuring
Seat Shinagawa , Tokyo , Japan

Roppongi Hills, Tokyo , Japan (until 2015)

management Hideo Kojima
Number of employees ~ 100
Branch Software development
Website http://kojimaproductions.jp/

Kojima Productions is a Japanese computer game development studio responsible for producing some of the leading series and titles for Japanese game publisher Konami . It was created in 2005 after a corporate restructuring from the already existing development team of the eponymous designer Hideo Kojima . Until 2015, the studio mainly worked on Kojima's main work, the action-spy series Metal Gear . In 2015, after a further restructuring by Konami, all references to Kojima Productions including the logo were removed. Despite a lack of confirmation, Kojima Productions has been disbanded since the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain . In December 2015, Hideo Kojima re-established the development studio as an independent company and also announced a partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment .

history

The Konami development teams, including the Kojima team, operated as Konami Japan until April 1, 2005. Through this structure, team leaders like Kojima were tied to management activities in addition to game development. As of April 1, the group management merged Konami Japan with the company headquarters to form the Konami Group, relieving the development teams of tasks such as personnel and financial management. At the same time, the Kojima team, which had been in existence for ten years, was given its own identity as Kojima Productions. Kojima Productions used the badge of the special unit Foxhound, known from Metal Gear Solid ( MGS ), to which the protagonists Solid Snake and Big Boss also belonged.

In September 2013 Kojima Productions opened a branch in Los Angeles.

In March 2015, half a year before the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , Konami surprisingly removed all logos and references to Kojima and Kojima Productions from its websites and advertising material, and the studio's homepage was redirected to an MGS franchise website and the Los Angeles studio was renamed the Konami Los Angeles Studio. At the same time, rumors grew that Kojima Productions was dissolved and that Kojima would leave the company after The Phantom Pain was completed. The Silent Hills , also under development at Kojima Productions , has also been discontinued.

This resulted in numerous speculations and rumors about the status of Konami's leading designer and rapidly deteriorating working conditions, to which the company mostly reacted evasively. A restructuring of the company into a more centrally controlled group was officially announced, and signs of a change in the business area were also discussed in the press. Accordingly, Konami plans to give up the production of expensive, high-quality computer games in favor of the business with pachinko slot machines and cheaper smartphone productions. Kojima has been deprived of numerous rights and areas of responsibility in this connection, rumors about the departure of the designer at the end of the year were not clearly denied by Konami. Konami only confirmed that Kojima was continuing to work on The Phantom Pain and that the company would continue to stick to the Metal Gear Solid brand in the future . In this context, Konami et al. a. external, independent developers to apply for the conception of another series offshoot.

Since the beginning of October 2015, one month after the publication of The Phantom Pain , the cooperation between Kojima and Konami was de facto ended in the gaming press and Kojima Productions was thus finally dissolved. The official company presentation, on the other hand, only spoke of a vacation for the team after the long development period. In November 2015, rumors surfaced that the Los Angeles studio would be closed. In December 2015, Hideo Kojima opened the new studio Kojima Productions , which no longer belongs to Konami. The first project announced was Death Stranding, a PlayStation 4 exclusive title that is being developed in collaboration with Sony Computer Entertainment . Death Stranding should also be released for PC on July 14, 2020.

Publications

Before 2005

Although Kojima Productions only existed by name since 2005, all previous productions for which Kojima and his team were responsible and supervised were also attributed to the Konami developer.

than Konami

as Konami Computer Entertainment Japan

From 2005

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HIDEO KOJIMA, DEATH STRANDING, AND BUILDING THE STUDIO. Retrieved October 17, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Hideo Kojima - partnership with Sony, new studio founded on GameStar .de, accessed on December 16, 2015
  3. ↑ Hideo Kojima Exclusive Q&A ( Memento from January 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Inside Kojima Productions' new US studio
  5. ↑ Konami removes Kojima name from Metal Gear games, Kojima rumored to leave (update)
  6. ↑ Development of Silent Hills is discontinued
  7. ↑ Confusion about Kojima and Konami - Is the snake losing its head?
  8. ^ Konami Will Stop Making Console Games, Report Says
  9. ↑ Konami: 'Our Commitment To AAA Console Games Has Never Changed'
  10. ↑ Konami Denies Hideo Kojima Has Left, Says He's 'On Vacation'
  11. ↑ Kojima Productions - Los Angeles studio reportedly closed
  12. ↑ Kojima Productions: Hideo Kojima founded 'new' Studio on IGN .com, accessed on 16 December 2015
  13. ↑ Tom Sykes: Kojima's Death Stranding is an action game in an open world. In: PC Gamer. September 13, 2016; Retrieved May 31, 2019 (American English).
  14. ↑ Death Stranding: PC release postponed - game will appear later. April 21, 2020, accessed July 9, 2020 .