Hideo Kojima Teases His New Game

Metal Gear Solid auteur Hideo Kojima, fresh from his escape from the Konami sausage factory, appeared at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas yesterday (18th February) with his former Silent Hills partner, film director Guillermo del Toro. While at the summit, Kojima (seen above, referencing del Toro’s grotesque fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth) discussed his transition from Konami employee (though, never referring to the company directly, presumably due to the rumoured terms of his contract severance) to head of his own studio, Kojima Productions, while teasing details of his forthcoming game for Sony.

“I feel extremely free right now. I am trying to make a big game with a very small team. I am doing exactly what I want to do,” Kojima said onstage, though a translator. “I have no intention of changing anything in order make it sell more. I want to create something that I want to play.”

Kojima also held interviews with with Gamespot and Polygon during the DICE Summit, during which he made reference to the new game he is currently working on, and shared about the ordeal of making Silent Hills.

“I want to do something that gives a lot of freedom and interactivity. Like I did in the past, I want to make something that has a very strong, dramatic story,” Kojima told Gamespot. “Sony is supporting us to make a big game that’s edgy with a strong story that gives the player a lot of freedom, with new elements, and I don’t know if that’s possible. But we’ll see.”

In a sly dig at Konami, Kojima praised Sony for giving him the freedom to create the game that he wants to make. “[Sony] are not controlling what I’m doing at all; that was part of the conditions, and Sony was very respectful towards me and what I do. In that regard, it’s been very nice, and very pleasant,” he added.

Regarding the fractious production of Silent Hills, Kojima told Polygon he felt deceived by Konami. “Let’s say you’re thinking of climbing Mount Everest, but you start with Mount Fuji first. That goes well and it feels good. Then you’re preparing to climb Mount Everest and you’re not allowed to,” he said. “That doesn’t feel good.”