The drama at Konami continues, as Kojima Productions' logo disappears from Silent Hills' official website...
NewsAs we've recently heard, there's been a certain amount of drama going on behind the scenes at Konami. Public knowledge of it began when Hideo Kojima, the director and creative force behind the Metal Gear series, had his name quietly removed from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
As rumors began to swirl that Konami, Kojima, and his team, Kojima Productions, had suffered some kind of falling out, the publisher released a series of statements that made a vague attempt to explain what's going on. Kojima's still involved with the completion of The Phantom Pain, they say, but after that, the Metal Gear series will continue with a new team working on it.
This seems to chime with reports that Kojima's leaving Konami, and that Kojima Productions will be dissolved after the release of The Phantom Pain.
All of this leaves Kojima's other big project, Silent Hills, up in the air. A much anticipated horror game, which also has Guillermo del Toro involved, Silent Hills has been in development for the PlayStation 4 since 2012, but with Kojima's apparent departure from Konami, the game now seems to be lacking one of its directors.
Over at Gamespot, it was noted that the Kojima Productions logo has been taken off the Silent Hills website. When questioned about the removal, Konami responded, "Konami has switched from a studio-based to a headquarters-based organization, so [Kojima Productions] wouldn't be listed as a studio anymore."
While it's true that Konami's gone through a bit of a restructure of late, it's not clear why the apparent rift between it and Kojima has occurred - in a recent list of executives at the company, for example, Kojima's name was conspicuously absent.
Kojima's history with Konami goes all the way back to 1986, with the director responsible for the creation of one of Konami's biggest franchises. With responses to Silent Hills' early demo, codenamed P.T., being so positive, it's likely that could have been another hit for the studio.
Like the Metal Gearfranchise, Silent Hills will surely carry on without Kojima. Who will take his place isn't currently known.
More news on all this as we get it.
