Everyone knows who Hideo Kojima is. Counted amongst the most legendary video game directors, he has truly left more than one mark on the industry. His first and most prominent mark was the Metal Gear Solid franchise. These games with truly excellent storytelling and inventive gameplay mechanics have acted as trailblazers for other similar franchises.
After his departure from Konami, he went on to once again build something incredible. Death Stranding was the kind of game people never thought they would want to play. They did, and they loved it. But it looks like this master had almost decided to move on to the movies, leaving video games behind.
Hideo Kojima once considered giving up on making games before a friend stopped him
Before he had to leave Konami behind, Hideo Kojima was working on a very interesting title. This was a game called Silent Hills. When he announced this title, Hideo Kojima also announced his newfound partnership with Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro. The game was also set to star The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus.
But Konami stepped in, decided to stop the production of Silent Hills, and parted ways with Hideo Kojima. No doubt, people were hurt. Guillermo Del Toro was so angry that he suggested he might never develop a game again. Hideo Kojima, on the other hand, pushed forward and founded a new studio called Kojima Productions.
Under this name, he first developed the sci-fi horror drama Death Stranding. This game unsurprisingly starred his two close pals, Guillermo Del Toro and Norman Reedus, alongside a bunch of big Hollywood stars. The game was an instant success.
But Hideo Kojima recently suggested in an interview that he would have left developing games if it wasn’t for Guillermo Del Toro. He says, “I fell ill in 2020. It was during the pandemic, so I was sick and isolated during all of it. I even had a surgery. And I thought, “I can’t anymore.” Then he went on to say, “And I talked to Guillermo del Toro about it. And he said, “Hideo, what you’re making is already a movie. Keep going as you are.”
This is when he cemented his decision to develop that recently announced action espionage title. And it appears every fan of Hideo Kojima and espionage games has Guillermo del Toro to thank for it.
And now, four years after that incident, Hideo Kojima is working on three games simultaneously: Death Stranding 2, OD, a horror game for Xbox, and the recently announced action espionage title. Here’s hoping he keeps on making these games for a very long time, as Hideo Kojima is one of the few game makers who care about bringing about some kind of innovative idea to the table.
Are Hideo Kojima’s games really movies, though?
Video games can be called a very interactive storytelling medium. Gamers are controlling the story’s protagonists, and they are experiencing a story firsthand. This makes video games way more immersive than movies.
And the way Hideo Kojima directs all his cinematics, he is definitely making movies. With elaborate camera angles and tricky cuts, there’s no stone he leaves unturned in making his games more exciting and cinematic to look at.
