Hideo Kojima has just revealed the challenges that he was faced with when starting up his own studio. While there were major headlines when the Metal Gear Solid director left Konami, little was known about his personal challenges that he was facing, and that included his family as well.
In an interview with Famitsu, Kojima talked about how difficult it was for him to start up his own studio after Konami.
It was three years and nine months ago that I struck out on my own. At that time, I was 53 years old. That’s an age in which you’d retire, right? My family members were also against the idea [of me setting up a new studio]. I was a 53-year-old middle-aged guy, I didn’t have any money or much of anything else, and it was just me saying I was going to make this open-world game.
Kojima was no small name when he left Konami, but that still does not make it easier to start from scratch all over again with your own studio. Many of us were oblivious to the challenges he was facing, including his future projects were many were doubting with the games that he would be working on.
The reason for that is that there hasn’t been a single world-famous game designer who has had success after striking out on their own. Even when I went to the bank, I couldn’t borrow money. They said, ‘We know you’re renowned, but you don’t have any actual results.’ This is the kind of country Japan is.
But then, there was a banker at the biggest bank who was a huge fan of mine, and I got the financing.
He does go on to credit Konami for his work there,
The reason why I’m who I am now is because of the 30 years I had at Konami.I am grateful to Konami, and I cannot deny that connection.
There might have been some luck on that, but it just goes to show how difficult it can be to start with your own studio or a company where you may be faced with many challenges or roadblocks along the way. Hideo Kojima might have made it through, and with the excitement for his first title after starting his own studio, Death Stranding seems to be heading to a big hit this year.
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