Speaking during a roundtable event attended by GameReactor, Hideo Kojima revealed that he’s aiming to position his new development studio as a smaller outfit similar to the British-based team at Media Molecule.
Kojima-san, who has established his own independent branch of Kojima Productions since leaving Konami last year, said he’s hoping to keep staff numbers at no more than 100.
"We aim to make a kind of small, intimate type of studio, and I felt like Media Molecule in London is quite similar to what I’m trying to make," he said.
"At Media Molecule… it looks like the kitchen is the most important part," continued. "And there are quite many female people working too, so it’s kind of a strange feeling."
Kojima-san added that he wants to connect with his staff on a personal level, which is why he wants to cap the staff at 100. He noted that he worked with around 200 people during his time at Konami, which presumably made it difficult to connect with his work colleagues.
The Metal Gear creator has been touring studios around the world in an attempt to observe their culture and find a new game engine for his new company. Kojima-san’s first project will be a PlayStation 4 console exclusive title that is said to appeal to Uncharted fans.
His controversial departure from Konami last year attracted a heap of media attention, although Kojima-san has made it clear he’s not allowed to go into details on what exactly went down.
One person that probably isn’t feeling too sorry for past Kojima’s issues however is David Hayter, who was the original voice actor for Solid Snake and Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid titles. Hayter has publicly said he has ‘no love‘ for Kojima-san after he was replaced by Kiefer Sutherland in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Not much is known about Kojima-san’s new title, although it isn’t going to be related to Metal Gear or Silent Hill. A release date has yet to be announced.