Singular video games hitmaker Hideo Kojima was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Edge magazine (via VGC), Kojima spoke about how experiencing serious illness forced him to accept that his time as a creator is limited.
“Until then, I didn’t think I was old, you know? I just didn’t feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live.”
The illness also pushed him to consider the future of Kojima Productions, the studio self-named studio he founded after his unceremonious ousting from Konami.
“I became sick, and I couldn’t create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death. Of course, I recovered, but now I was thinking, ‘Wait, how many years do I have left to make a game or a film?’ Perhaps I have ten years?”
Kojima has been loud and proud for years about his cinephile status and his own aspirations for filmmaking, though anyone who’s sat through one of his infamously long cutscenes could tell you the same. In the interview, Kojima shares that his dreams of making a movie have been put to rest. The decision came after consulting with Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn, who both advised the Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator to focus on video games.
The future of Kojima Productions, the self-named studio founded after Kojima’s unceremonious ousting from KONAMI, was also something he considered.
“I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant, kind of like a will. Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions…”
