Kojima-san restructuring Kojima Productions

  • Posted January 5th, 2009 at 11:39 EDT by
  • 3,910 views
  • 31 Comments

We reported late in 2008 that Hideo Kojima was planning on taking the reins of two new titles simultaneously in order to better compete with the Western market and their developers. In order to achieve this objective, Kojima is being forced to restructure, retool an implement a fair amount of staff changes within his production company.

"We're currently reviewing everything in order to make Kojima Productions a team that can challenge foreign creators and software houses," he said. "I've thought a lot about how Western games have been winning, looking it from a global perspective, and there are things that I've noticed.

And yet, despite the global success of his Metal Gear Solid franchise, the critically acclaimed videogames designer continues to remain as modest as ever, seemingly playing down the impact of his works in recent years.

"I've come to understand that the way we've made games up until now won't translate globally, and I've come to think that I need to make Kojima Productions a team that can compete alongside the rest of the world,” he added.

According to various reports, the two titles being directed by Kojima include a survival-horror title and a shooter, marking a significant departure from his previous works.

Source

Advertisement

Comments

Comment

What are your thoughts?

  1. Tom1525 | Tom1525

    • 11:44am GMT - January 5th, 2009

     good !!!! He can sort out this online features for his games too !

  2. Alpha2

    • 11:44am GMT - January 5th, 2009

    But the thing that makes Kojima's games sell is that they're KOJIMA GAMES, if all he's going to do is ape someone elses game then what's the point. It's just going to be a weak "also-ran" title that no one will try in the face of more well known franchises.

    What western game on this list besides the more obvious ones are SOO much better?

    http://www.vgwatchdog.com/?p=15382

    Is Kojima going to spend 3 years on a multiplatform sandbox game?

  3. LegendaryAim | LegendaryAim

    • 12:00pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

     Kojima im hoping that one of them is an exclusive or project S so you can take full advantage of the hardware

  4. Solrac | Solrac7688

    • 12:07pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    I was hoping that Kojima was making Zone of Enders 3 but anygame Kojima makes will be great

  5. RagingStorm | RagingStormX

    • 12:28pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    Zone of the Enders 3 is all I need...chop chop Kojima, time waits for no man!

  6. Girugamesh | Shidousha

    • 12:41pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    MGS4 sells 4 million +, and the man says he wants to compete globally? I love Kojima, but FFS man, don't conform and start making more shooters (I guess technically MGS4 is a shooter, but you know what ah mean) just so your game will sell more! The market is already chock full with the mess, as is my collection, what made MGS so bada.ss is that Kojima made a game that he always dreamed of, now he's saying he wants to make games for SALES he always dreamed of.

  7. xdbuix

    • 12:47pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

     Remember how he went to learn from the guys who made COD. I'm sure it's gonna be a FPS and... it's gonna b great

  8. MrAce | mrace

    • 1:04pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    I think what he is trying to say is he wants to make his games more appealing to western audiences. I liked MGS but it wasn't everyones cup of tea, he made that game on his own expectations of what a game should be. Now he wants to make game based on what the market is looking for. I doubt he'll be doing an exclusive.

  9. edward_moffet | edd

    • 1:34pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    what ever he does im fine with, the man is a genious and is an absolute perfectionist no matter what he will do what's best for the quality of the games. Also i would just like to note it was not Kojima Productions fault for the online issues that was Konami's doing trying to push their own online service (fiasco)

  10. Girugamesh | Shidousha

    • 1:42pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    @MrAce

    That's the problem. The mainstream market definitely ISN'T who I'm looking to satisfy. *Looks at Valkyria Chronicles* One of the best games this gen and last gen combined. You want more of it? I know i fcking do. Well mainstream apparently doesn't judging from sales numbers.

  11. GunsOfLiberty | GunsOfLiberty

    • 2:09pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    A survival-Horror from KOJIMA? :) I'm so hyped all of a sudden!!! a shooter too!! the more the merrier........oh and pls don't forget maybe another MetalGear.......[5]....... Kojima rules no matter what western developers do..........

  12. Oatmeal | NEJI64

    • 2:15pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    i dout these games will be a PS3 exclusive but if he go by his same standers as he did when he made MGS4. then most like this will be a PS3 exclusive this time around he knows his way around PS3 hardware.

  13. Alpha2

    • 3:10pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    They never said he was specificaly talking onnly to CoD developers. and He gets Motion sickness so there much less chance he'd work on a FPS. Prehaps a 3rd person game like Gears. But honestly it's not like he couldnt out do that game if he really wanted to without even trying to learn anything form western developers. A survival Horror game might be a lot cooler but it's seriously going to have to be more original than "Here are some Zombies".

  14. Johnnorris | Johnnorris

    • 3:16pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    Oh no, I hope the games have online, but not with the dreadful "Konami ID'' and all that, annoying. I think his horror game will be great but if his shooter is 1st person then oh no.

  15. dokdxx1

    • 3:31pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    People who didn't like MGS4 or any other MGS aren't true gamers anyway. If you play online comp shooters, sports, fighters or driving games only, please don't even think you are a gamer. True games are people who appriciate the production value, game play, story, inovation, and the art in the game. I would hate to think that Kojimasan is going to dumb down his games for the "Western" market. Granted it is a business, but MGS4 is as far west he should go (If you didn't know MGS4, was in his eyes, was aimed towards the western markets). Now if he is talking about improving HIS style of gaming for online now that's different. But online gaming should be a secondary thought to the actual game. (I know most people didn't buy MGS4 for MGO unless they were idiots)

    Now a tactical stealth action survival horror game... Sweet!

  16. Silent_gig | Silent_gig

    • 3:33pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    I love Kojima

  17. gingo | gingo

    • 3:39pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    psn id: gingo... i love the japanese and their modesty, even though he has made one of the most influential games ever he still plays down its importance and doesn't brag which i think deserves a lot of respect

  18. big-boss262603 | OA1995

    • 3:53pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    kojima makes the best games

  19. lepolohuevo | lepolohuevo

    • 4:25pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    ooooh yeah! I hope ZOE3 is the Shooter! I'd be more than happy to s*** my pants it's a horror game made by kojima! (who knows, maybe be we will have to fight psycho mantis's corpse XD)

  20. superbeast1370 | superbeast2000

    • 4:52pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    I don't know what's going through Kojima's head, but MGS4 is better than any Western-developed game to date (I'm looking at you, Gears of War 2)

  21. bobtheduck

    • 4:53pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    After many warning signals from sales figures of wii sports, wii play, wii fit, wii sh**, wii wii, and madden 2020, the core gaming demographic was proven at last to not matter as Kojima moves away from Narrative based games to make Wii Spy, a balance board game where you do things like stand on one foot to avoid your mii's detection by other mii's. This comprehensive use of the wiimote and balance board went on to sell the game 8 million copies worldwide, thus singlehandedly saving Konami financially. The morgues filled up pretty quickly in the time of Wii Spy's release, as well, with real gamers dropping dead left and right when they realized their worst fears were finally confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt.

    Or something like that... A shooter, huh? And a Survival horror? Could be good. I hope he goes more "Silent hill 2" and less "Resident Evil 5" myself.

  22. supamariobrotha | supamariobrotha

    • 4:57pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    only got two things to say keep it kojima,keep it exclusive. .........damn i love exclusives

  23. BlueDragoon0 | Lionheart0

    • 6:10pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    I wonder, will his two projects be exclusive to PlayStation 3 or multiplatform?

     

    Because apparently their multiplatform but that hasn't been confirmed.

  24. Stevie | XxSteviexX

    • 6:24pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    That horror game will be crazy, imagine what he'll make us have to do - having to change controllers to fight and the screen changing in mid combat

  25. LegendaryAim | LegendaryAim

    • 8:31pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

     We Start From Zero= A Reference to MGS4 NOT Xbox 360

  26. Ahaaa | A-HAAA

    • 8:43pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    Kojima wins another one of my prestigous awards

    OG of the year.

    hideo has recived this award for all of his hard work of creating all these good games and still stayin humble after all this attention.

  27. SpiderPS3 | InvisiCobra

    • 9:00pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    i really hope that they don't get too far away from what makes kojima's games so great like MGS4

  28. Strudel | Strudel

    • 9:19pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    sweet, I need a decent horror game, too many rubbish ones and not enough great ones

  29. quazarblack | quazarblack

    • 9:39pm GMT - January 5th, 2009

    want more games ? make the games come with a english and japanese translation from the start, we have bluray for petes sake !

  30. Pablo0620 | Pablo0620

    • 1:04am GMT - January 6th, 2009

    Whatever Kojima sells I'll buy. Including his underwear

  31. bravo9zero | Bravo9zero

    • 6:54am GMT - January 6th, 2009

    Why do people want  ZOE3?    ZOE are crap games.

    There so dull..

eXTReMe Tracker