Konami is already mired in enough controversy. It has shunned and refused to discuss the particulars over Hideo Kojima's departure, allegedly mistreated and punished employees in unusually punishing ways, and twisted the Metal Gear Solid franchise in agonizingly annoying ways. If the publisher couldn't do anything more to sully its reputation, it has done just that with a report from Japanese finance and business magazine Nikkei that has been detailed by Kotaku from My Game News Flash.
When asked about Metal Gear Survive during TGS 2016, Kojima paused to audience laughter and merely stated his opinion that zombies have nothing to do with the "political fiction with espionage" that has defined his series. However, with videos of this disappearing around their appearance on YouTube, it could be insinuated that Konami didn't take this reception lately, and it has apparently demonstrated personal, petty grievances toward Kojima for this. Nikkei reports that Konami sent a letter to him last fall that ironically read, "You are unfairly sullying the reputation of our company," despite the fact he didn't call out Konami during the presentation. This might stem from compensation agreements between the company and game designer after their fallout, with the former allegedly not coming through with a part of this agreement. Kojima gave "no comment" when Nikkei asked for a response to this allegation.
In addition, Nikkei has also reported that Konami is going out of its way to other game companies and Japanese TV stations, telling them to be wary about hiring former employees. Those who leave Konami are also strongly encouraged to not discuss their prior involvement or history with the company. From allegedly spying on internal employees to barring Kojima from participating in The Game Awards 2015, Konami's behavior seems to be getting increasingly odd. It's inevitable that more strife is bound to rise in the near future.
Do you think Nikkei's claims are true? What do you think is the most dishonorable action that Konami has done in the past couple years? Can it ever redeem itself? Fulton down to the comments section below to let us know.
