Hideo Kojima has proven to have great success with his own independent multimedia studio, something many were skeptical of when he first departed from Konami. Kojima Productions is going on nearly eight years strong as an independent company, with multiple projects in the works from the gaming sphere with Death Stranding 2 and OD, alongside other ventures like a live-action Death Stranding film and a documentary headed to Disney Plus.
Kojima opened up on Twitter about how people reacted when the bombshell news dropped that he was leaving the Contra maker to form his own studio. This led to a huge shakeup with the large Japanese dev shelving its recently debuted P.T., which was just a playable teaser for Silent Hills, the next entry in the horror series that has since been left in a weird spot. He explained that creating things is no longer a job to him, but rather it’s “living,” and it sounds like he plans on continuing this dev route until he’s buried in the ground.
The post expressed how he was opposed by everyone, from his peers to colleagues to even relatives of his, who felt it just couldn’t work without the backing of the lies of Konami or an equally large company in the space. He, however, saw that mindset as an “old-fashioned” way of thinking and knew he was going to be the one to prove it as such. He then capped it off with a rather uplifting message that young creators need the freedom to create things.
The reason why I am independent and advocate a life-long career is because for me, "creating things" is no longer a job. That's why there is no retirement. Creating things is living. One more thing. In the game industry, there are very few people who have succeeded in becoming… pic.twitter.com/48v9uWOk01
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) December 16, 2023
