Metal Gear vets join Kojima Productions; Non-games projects possible

Two veterans of the Metal Gear series have joined Hideo Kojima’s new studio.

Artist Yoji Shinkawa and producer Ken Imaizumi have both joined up with their former boss, who told IGN that Kojima Productions may move beyond the confines of merely games.

"I’m thinking smaller-scale, not too many people, and focusing on game creation at first,” he explained. "The focus is on digital content, so we could consider movies, animations, anything.

"But first I think people expect games from me. That’s where I want to put my focus. Once we have an established IP in games, something solid that satisfies people, then we can consider movies and videos."

Kojima also added that he’d bee keen to resume his partnership with Guillermo del Toro while promising that his new studio will be different to the team he helmed at Konami.

We’ll have more agility,” he insisted. We’ll be able to do things that are more edgy, preserving the quality we’ve had so far, while at the same time finding new challenges and exploring new areas.”

It seems, however, that despite the falling out experienced between many Japanese consumers and console gaming, Kojima remains committed to the traditional games space.

I make games in Japan for a global market,” the developer added. As long as there’s a market out there in the world for making games, I’m not too focused on what’s happening in the domestic market in Japan.

However, because I make games for all the world, I want to make games that go to a global market. If there are very fun games are out there, I believe they will eventually find their way to Japan. People in Japan will start consuming them.”