Electronic Arts Chief Operating Officer, Peter Moore, has said that Hideo Kojima and Konami should attempt to bury the hatchet and work together again.
Speaking with GameSpot, Moore, who previously worked with SEGA during the Dreamcast years and later moved to Microsoft, appeared optimistic about Kojima-san and Konami’s future, suggesting the pair will ultimately work things out.
“I’ve always liked Kojima-san. I got on with him during my days at Microsoft. I just think… what’s going on there… I just think both of them should kiss and make up,” said Moore.
“From my experience, and I’ve spent a lot of time working in Japan, I think that Konami and Kojima will figure it out. Those kinds of business relationships [in Japan] are typically for life, and Kojima is such an important part in what has gone on there.”
Kojima-san and Konami have been the subject of a highly publicised falling out, with the Metal Gear creator due to leave the Japanese software giant following completion of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
While the exact nature of these internal problems have yet to be divulged, the fallout resulted in Kojima-san’s name being removed from several Konami products, as well as the cancellation of the hotly anticipated Silent Hills for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“Clearly, Kojima and Konami are at a rocky stage in their marriage,” Moore added, “but you could take what is said about [Kojima Productions], about a game not adhering to budgets, about a game not being ready, and you could apply that to a lot of people.”
“Any game that isn’t iterative in nature the way an EA Sports game is, or any series that doesn’t ship every single year… those things can go on forever. There needs to be an agreement between the publisher and developer to make sure that both parties understand when the game is supposed to ship, and what it’s supposed to be. But with regards to Kojima and Konami, they’ll kiss and make up. They’ll be fine.”