Hideo Kojima, the legendary game director behind the Metal Gear Solid series, has left Konami.
According to an unnamed insider who spoke to the New Yorker, Kojima's farewell party was held on October 9th and was attended by a hundred or so guests from Konami and other studios. The famous game director is now jobless and is not allowed to work with other studios for two months. We're sure it won't be hard for him to find another job when his non-compete clause expires in December.
Kojima's departure is not actually a surprise as it was reported more than 6 months ago that Metal Gear Solid V was to be his last game with the studio. Kojima has worked at Konami since 1986 until the company decided to focus on less risky mobile games and ditch large budget AAA titles.
Metal Gear Solid V is estimated to have cost around $80 million to develop, but it was able to make $179 million in day 1 sales alone. Apparently, this wasn't enough to convince Konami that high quality console gamers are worth the risk.
Konami’s president, Hideki Hayakawa, and its CEO, Sadaaki Kaneyoshi, did not attend Kojima's farewell party.