Metal Gear Solid maker Hideo Kojima has said his development studio will remain independent – despite numerous offers from interested parties.
The past year has seen a flurry of mergers and acquisitions within the video game industry, with Microsoft following up its Bethesda purchase by launching its attempt to buy Activision Blizzard, while Sony has gobbled up Bungie and Take-Two has taken on Zynga.
Don’t expect the Death Stranding developer to follow suit, however – even as Kojima looks to be building new games for both Microsoft and Sony.
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“I created this company in December 2015 after leaving Konami,” Kojima said, speaking on the latest episode of his Spotify podcast. “It was 100 percent out of my pocket – no funding from anyone whatsover.
“We are indies, we have no affiliations whatsoever and are not backed by anyone, and are on good terms with everybody in the industry,” he continued.
“Every day I am approached by offers from all over the world to buy our studio. Some of those offers are ridiculously high prices but it’s not that I want money. I want to make what I want to make. That’s why I created this studio. So as long as I’m alive, I don’t think I’ll ever accept those offers.”
Kojima is currently working on a mysterious new project for Xbox set to take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. It’s a project which Kojima was rumoured to once have been exploring with Google – a subject he also discussed.
Unfounded rumours suggested this project would have been a follow-up to Death Stranding. And while there’s been whispers Kojima is once again working with Death Stranding actress Margaret Qualley, Kojima is clear that the Death Stranding franchise was never going to get a sequel at Google.
“The rumour that Death Stranding, moreover – a sequel – was in the works to be an exclusive title for Google, is unfounded,” he said. “And [Google Stadia boss] Phil Harrison ultimately rejecting that is quite impossible. I’ve never once said anything to Phil about wanting to make a Death Stranding sequel.”
However, Death Stranding star Norman Reedus suggested earlier this year that a sequel was now in the works. Kojima did not comment on that on the podcast.
As for what else Kojima might work on in the future, the developer was clear it wouldn’t be his franchises for Konami.
“Probably not Boktai,” Kojima laughed. “Every single day from all over the world I get messages saying ‘Hey, make a new Metal Gear’, or PT, or Boktai or Zone of the Enders. I take this as a positive thing but also, as adults, everyone should know that this isn’t going to happen, right? But they still send me stuff like this.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, Kojima dismissed rumours he was involved in the development on PS5 vapourware game Abandoned as a “nuisance”.
