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The story
A release from Kojima Productions, led by director Hideo Kojima, announcing a new partnership with Xbox has stirred up discussion on 5ch after users noticed it made no mention of Sony, the studio’s longtime backer. Since leaving Konami in 2015, Kojima Productions has relied on funding and Sony’s proprietary game engine to produce the Death Stranding series, and the thread saw criticism along the lines of “not even a word of thanks?” clash with counterarguments that “the studio was never actually struggling to begin with.” The discussion gradually expanded to cover Death Stranding 2’s sales performance and updates on other creators who left Konami, such as Toshihiro Nagoshi.
What people said
Hey!… HEY…
put that budget into the actual gameplay instead
But if they did that, we couldn't lose our minds over the models anymore, right? ("んほる" is slang for swooning/gushing, often over hyper-realistic character faces)
and he doesn't say a single word of thanks? I'm honestly shocked.
Does this guy have no common sense at all?
Kicking sand in the face of the people who helped him like that — I'm genuinely put off.
Thought the same thing
Setting aside who's right or wrong, at least a token word of thanks on the surface would've been nice
Exactly this
The "official Kojima Productions release" being talked about is the one posted on X and their website, right?
Both of them just report the Xbox partnership
Is there some separate post somewhere thanking SIE? Because I can't find one
People want to frame it like he was in trouble, but
he wasn't actually struggling after getting cut loose
Sony backing him was already arranged before he even left Konami
There was an article saying Death Stranding 2's sales were underwhelming, and the new game they're making, Physint, is behind schedule and eating through the budget — that's apparently why he got cut
He originally wanted to go into the film industry so badly that MGS4 had like 8 hours of cutscenes
So that's why he has everyone around him call him "Director"
↓
Uses it to wine and dine famous celebrities under the pretext of "motion capture"
↓
Repeat
↓
Allowance runs out
Nagoshi got exposed for the same thing too — blowing money wining and dining Sony people back when he was head of development at Sega
More and more companies are shutting down studios or doing mass layoffs too
Comparing Kojima to Nagoshi, who couldn't even ship a game, is going way too far
What's Nagoshi even doing these days?
Wondered why this combo made sense, but then remembered —
Nagoshi was the head of development at Sega back when Bayonetta and Vanquish came out
They put up that much money, gave him the engine for free, and even allowed a multiplatform release — an insanely good deal, and still nothing
He even got to borrow the game engine — treated incredibly well — and yet there's not even a hint of gratitude. Leaves a bad impression
They learned their lesson from Concord, and now games like Concord are just the ones getting axed
Seems plausible that Concord got slammed so hard it triggered an overall review [of funded projects]
Made me feel like I was a delivery driver for Yamato or Sagawa (major Japanese parcel courier companies)
The thing is, partway through it just turns into a game where you drive a truck around…
It's fun, but it feels like the hype set the bar too high
Sakaguchi and Nagoshi both seem stuck in obscurity, and Mikami got cut loose by Bethesda too
Honestly, Mikami's doing fine just by having shipped Vanquish and The Evil Within
And Kamiya made Bayonetta
Well, realistically, one flop and you're done
Once you start making an AAA title it's a once-in-a-lifetime gamble
No creator bats a thousand
Lumping them all together is completely wrong
Mikami makes solid games and gets recognized for it, so he'll get another shot
"Beard" (Kojima's nickname) keeps putting out work no matter what
Nagoshi has nothing
I think a lot of people do like Metal Gear though
Not a hater, but Kojima really hasn't changed since around MGS4 — and not in a good way
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
After leaving Konami in 2015, Kojima Productions produced the Death Stranding series with funding from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and use of Sony’s proprietary “Decima Engine.” What’s drawing attention now is that the studio’s release announcing its Xbox partnership contains no acknowledgment of Sony, sparking a clash on the thread between users arguing “no gratitude after ten years of support?” and others countering that “the studio was never actually in dire straits — Sony’s backing was arranged well before the split from Konami.” Poor sales for Death Stranding 2 and budget overruns on the new title Physint are cited in the thread as reasons behind the split, but these are unconfirmed claims raised within the discussion, not facts officially acknowledged by Kojima Productions or Sony — a point readers could easily mistake for confirmed fact. The word “severance” in the headline is likewise 5ch’s own interpretation; neither company has issued an official announcement of a relationship breakup.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (NanJ) thread “[RIP] Director Hideo Kojima Reportedly Severs Ties with SONY for Real.”
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