Hideo Kojima talks in a recent interview at DICE 2016 about his fruitful partnership with Sony and gives hints about what’s yet to come.
Hideo Kojima has been very busy since his everlasting relationship with Konami finished by the end of last year. After confirming that he was partnering with Sony and establishing Kojima Productions as an independent studio, he has been traveling around the globe, meeting good friends and appearing way more often in front of the media. In a recent interview with GameSpot during DICE 2016 Kojima confirmed that he feels very comfortable working with Sony. A deal which comes, he says, with mutual trust and no restrictions.
Kojima has also unveiled some details about the scope of his first game in the post-Konami era. We have summarized the most interesting ones here for you.
It Is BIG
After working with Konami for 30 years and shipping the Metal Gear Solid series, one of Kojima’s inclinations was to step aside of the big titles and give himself a rest. Writing a novel, creating an indie game, or producing a movie were among his first ideas for a small scale project. However, he realized, everyone he talked with was clearly against this and advised him on following the path he had already created. So he gathered his thoughts and considered the situation, deciding that he would work on an edgy title. And apparently he did not have to think too much to find the next step. “It kind of came naturally, what I’m working on now,” he confessed.
It Comes with No Restrictions
Even if this is the first time he partners with Sony and there is a lot at stake, the sense of responsibility collides with complete freedom. Sony is not putting any limitations to Kojima’s creation process. He, on the other hand, sounds reassuring when he says that the scale of the partnership will not change anything within the game.
It Is a 100% Kojima Title
If you have been following Kojima’s friendship with Guillermo del Toro you know that they are up to something after the fiasco with Silent Hills. Collaborations are very fruitful but in this case they will develop in parallel and won’t be a part of Kojima’s next title.
Narrative and Gameplay are Equally Important
Kojima does not like bland stories (did we have any doubt about that?). Like a lot of Japanese videogame creators, he prefers them strong and dramatic. On top of that, he wants this one to give a lot of freedom and interactivity to players, something that has also been requested and supported by Sony. When talking about the risks involved in this, Kojima confesses that it would be much easier to just make a linear game and give predominance to gameplay. But that’s not an option either. “That’s what people want from me and that’s what I want to do,” he says.
It Could Turn Into a Series
Okay, it’s still too early to even think about sequels, prequels or spin-offs… But Kojima is very used to create narratives that expand through various games and mediums and he is not rejecting the possibility of that happening again. The game he is working on will be a new IP and he wants to “make something that will have a big enough impact to become a series.” By this he thinks in empowering the things that are unique to the game -the characters, the background, the world- and that could lead to more titles, or even manga and anime creations.
All things considered, one wonders whether Kojima and his enterprise will manage to produce a game as big as Metal Gear Solid V off the bat. Kojima Productions is surely way smaller when compared to Konami. But Kojima wants to retain his authenticity and he is pulling for an independent team of creators with Sony’s full sponsorship. We will need to wait and see.
[Source: GameSpot]
