It’s clear that somewhere along the line, Konami realized its star developer, Hideo Kojima, was a lot more popular than the company that employed him. Since large companies are a lot more about the collective company than they are about the individuals they employ, it seems perfectly corporate that Konami try to remove Kojima’s name from their products as he began his lengthy breakup with the company. The last straw in the eyes of many fans was when Konami refused to allow Kojima to accept his Game Award for Metal Gear Solid V . Credit must be given where credit is due, and Kojima and the team he works with for his games are the ones that should earn the praise. As such, I find it extremely unlikely that Konami will win back the favor of Metal Gear Solid fans, who are clearly more interested in Kojima’s future work than Konami’s.
This is made all the more clear as everything we love Kojima for came crashing down when he finally left Konami: Silent Hill was cancelled, Metal Gear Solid wasn’t, Metal Gear Solid was slapped onto a pachinko machine, and Konami, in a wildly desperate act, has responded to fans on Reddit. The company states clearly that it wants to earn its fans’ favor again. After all this upheaval with Kojima, Konami still asks this? It seems daring to even bother, and I’m firmly under the impression it won’t work.
Though of course Metal Gear Solid is a group effort, that doesn’t mean Kojima’s abilities as a leader shouldn’t be acknowledged. Just as Orson Wells is certainly more famous than the production company that funded his films, Konami should have realized how important it is for individual talent to be acknowledged. Without such amazing creative leadership, it’s hard to imagine that Konami will ever win back its fans.
In addition, the competition Konami will have against Kojima’s own company will be tough to say the least. Kojima’s name has risen to such fame that we’ll buy anything he creates – no matter how much it weirds us out. Death Stranded couldn’t have had a more bizarre trailer, but we’re all hooked because we know what a brilliant mind Kojima has. If he’s going to make a statement about human connection, we’re probably going to go along with it. Konami does not have quite this reputation. Sure, the company was smart enough to hire Kojima in the first place, but doesn’t mean it will find talent to equal Kojima nor do we know the other developers of Konami as intimately as we do Kojima.
Any new talent hired will certainly have big shoes to fill, and I can’t imagine the amount of pressure Konami will put on this unfortunate person. Even if Konami does come out with a decent addition to the Metal Gear Solid series, it cannot help but be completely different from the rest of the games. A carbon copy of any of the previous games will fall flat – the series is far too complex to allow for it. A new story will be a story written by someone else and reflect their voice and vision. Good or bad, it is very rare indeed to accomplish something similar to what J. J. Abrams has done with Star Trek and Star Wars .
The odds against Konami winning back Metal Gear Solid fans are astronomical. The need to acknowledge individual talent is far too necessary in this day and age. Artists yearn to be acknowledged and Kojima is no different. Konami does not have the same trusted reputation that Kojima does, and it will be an uphill battle from the start. The odds that any new talent Konami hires will be wildly successful are extremely unlikely (and the company will have the same acknowledgement problem it did with Kojima all over again). So maybe Konami should stick to its pachinko machines instead and leave Metal Gear Solid to the beautiful finish it had with Phantom Pain.
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