Last night at the game awards Geoff Keighley leveled some fairly heavy accusations at Konami who reportedly did not “allow” Hideo Kojima to come to Los Angelos to accept the award that his game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won. Geoff did not mince words, calling out Konami for not allowing Kojima to come to the Game Awards in LA.
““Mr. Kojima had every intention of being with us tonight,” Keighley said during the proceedings, via Gematsu. “But unfortunately, he was informed by a lawyer representing Konami just recently that he would not be allowed to travel to tonight’s awards ceremony to accept any awards. “He’s still under an employment contract, it’s disappointing, and it’s inconceivable to me that an artist like Hideo would not be allowed to come here and celebrate with his peers and his fellow teammates.”
This adds to the ever growing pile of drama between Hideo and his former (or current?) studio Konami. Earlier this year and directly after the the release of MGS:V Kojima was reportly “dismissed” and a small party was held in honor of his departure. Konami later denied that this had ever happened, but it seemed like the horse was already out of the barn. While convincing evidence emerged in October that Kojima had left the company shortly after the release of The Phantom Pain, Konami denied the reports.
Kojima is much beloved for his Metal Gear franchise and has been publishing in the game industry since the early 90’s. His departure from Konami would be to say the least a major shake up.