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Kojima Productions has ‘disbanded,’ says Solid Snake’s Japanese voice actor
The rumor mill surrounding the end of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima’s longstanding relationship with Konami Corp has been churning since the studio first began removing his name from the box art for his games. The rumors were all but confirmed by director Guillermo del Toro, who had been working on Silent Hills with Kojima, and now Akio Otsuka, the Japanese voice actor for Metal Gear Solid lead character Solid Snake, has stated that Kojima Productions has been disbanded.
“Kojima Productions was forced to disband, but it appears that the work that the team has been putting their utmost effort into is nearly complete,” Otsuka said in a tweet (translation via Gameatsu). “I’m not exaggerating when I say that I expect it will become their greatest masterpiece. I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to say ‘Kept you waiting, huh?’ (Laughs.) But even if this is the end, Metal Gear Solid is immortal!”
Kojima created the original Metal Gear in 1987 for the MSX2 computer, and the series went on to release nearly two dozen games over a span of three decades. Otsuka himself has voiced Solid Snake since the 1998 release of Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation.
Konami “will be conducting auditions” to replace Kojima
The Metal Gear Solid franchise was supposed to be finally coming to an end with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which is set to release in September on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. While the game was intended by Kojima to be the final release in the series, Konami has since stated that it will continue the series in the future without him.
“Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. will continue to develop and distribute top-quality content in the METAL GEAR series following ‘MGSV: TPP.’ We greatly anticipate and deeply appreciate your ongoing support for METAL GEAR,” Konami said in a statement earlier this year. “As the next step in the series, KONAMI has already resolved to develop a new ‘METAL GEAR’ title. We will be conducting auditions for main staff to lead the development.”
Kojima has made no public statements regarding his fallout with Konami, but after the cancellation of Silent Hills, Guillermo del Toro said, “It was a sort of scorched earth approach. It was not a gentle and ambiguous cancellation.”
“Hideo Kojima 20100702 Japan Expo 1” by Georges Seguin (Okki) – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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