In an interview with Famitsu, Hideo Kojima discusses the challenges he faced after leaving Konami.
“It was three years and nine months ago that I struck out on my own,” says Kojima. “At that time, I was 53 years old. That’s an age in which you’d retire, right? My family members were also against the idea [of me setting up a new studio]. I was a 53-year-old middle-aged guy, I didn’t have any money or much of anything else, and it was just me saying I was going to make this open-world game.”
Kojima also talks about the difficulties of setting up a new studio. He says when he went to a bank in Japan to ask for a loan, they wouldn’t give it to him because “you don’t have any actual results,” says Kojima. Things were looking up after a banker at the largest bank in Japan who was a big Kojima fan gave him the financing he needed.
In addition to the financial struggle, Kojima says that people doubted he could make a good game on his own. “The reason for that is that there hasn’t been a single world-famous game designer who has had success after striking out on their own,” Kojima says. Prior to Death Stranding, Kojima made a name for himself as the creator of the Metal Gear series which started on the MSX2 in 1987.
“The reason why I’m who I am now is because of the 30 years I had at Konami,” Kojima says. “I am grateful to Konami, and I cannot deny that connection.”
Death Stranding launches on November 8, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
The post Hideo Kojima Discusses the Challenges He Faced After Leaving Konami by David Gill appeared first on DualShockers.