Hideo Kojima posted pictures on social media of himself visiting Sony in Japan while wearing a Joy Division T-shirt — and fans are certainly getting plenty of joy out of it.
The Metal Gear creator took to social media to post the photos showing him standing outside Sony City, also known as the Sony Corporate Office Building, in Tokyo, Japan. That wouldn’t normally be anything to write home about, but given recent events, there’s plenty of context we need to run through.
Earlier this year, Sony ditched Physint, Kojima’s Metal Gear spiritual successor, leaving the legendary game developer scrambling to find another publisher for the project. In an interview with IGN, Kojima revealed how he feared for the future of Kojima Productions after Sony confirmed its decision via a Zoom call.
Visited Sony City. https://t.co/b1lUNSx5T0
Kojima pitched Physint to Microsoft and new gaming boss Asha Sharma, who were suitably impressed to snap up the cast adrift project, including its adaptation rights for film and TV. In the wake of Physint’s move to Xbox, Bloomberg reported that Sony had concerns around the success of Kojima’s Death Stranding, as well as Physint’s development timeline, budget, and platform strategy. Kojima Productions issued a statement in response, although it failed to directly address Bloomberg’s reporting.
“Make no mistake, this was a serious situation for the studio with a range of potentially significant implications,” Kojima Productions said. “While we recognise that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for Physint continues to move forward with Xbox, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong.”
In our interview, Kojima insisted there was no bad blood with Sony, saying: “... from my side, I love Sony. And I don't have any bad feelings against them because I know that it's a tough time in the game industry. I've been working with them for like 30 years… Mr. Ken Kutaragi, Mr. Hirai, I was close with them. But it's not like that recently. I realized that, okay, this is the reality. It's the 10th anniversary of my studio. My studio might collapse, right?”
Kojima added that Sony did not provide a reason for canceling Physint, nor had it contacted him since the decision was made. “But I'm not fighting with Sony,” he continued. “We're not in a dispute. But what I want to say is that we've been together for 30 years and we have this relationship. So if this was the conclusion, I would've wanted to hear it a little earlier. But that meeting in June, they just gave us the final notice.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/hideo-kojima-wears-joy-division-t-shirt-to-sony-visit-sparking-johnny-silverhand-arasaka-tower-comparison
