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Hideo Kojima To Give GDC Festival of Gaming Keynote

The GDC Festival of Gaming confirmed this morning that Hideo Kojima will be present to give the official keynote for the event

Published Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:12:05 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

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Article Summary

Hideo Kojima will deliver the GDC Festival of Gaming keynote in San Francisco in March 2026.
The keynote, "Restarting from Zero," explores Kojima’s journey to independence after leaving Konami.
Kojima will share insights on founding Kojima Productions, creative risk-taking, and brand building.
Highlights include Death Stranding projects, new IPs like Physint, and Kojima’s industry impact.

Organizers for the GDC Festival of Gaming announced this morning that game creator Hideo Kojima will give the keynote speech for the event next March. The keynote will be called "Restarting from Zero: A Message to Creators Considering Independence," as it will reflect on his departure from Konami and the efforts made to start Kojima Productions ten years ago. We have more details from the event below as Kojima will present on day one of the event, set to happen at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 9-13, 2026.

Hideo Kojima To Give GDC Festival of Gaming Keynote — Image provided courtesy of GDC Festival of Gaming, image by Kojima Productions

Widely regarded as the father of the stealth genre, Hideo Kojima is credited with revolutionizing storytelling and cinematic presentation in video games, and pushing the boundaries of the medium in the process. Founding his own independent studio, Kojima Productions, in December 2015, the development studio quickly established itself with its debut title, Death Stranding, which earned numerous awards and global acclaim.

Its sequel, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, which launched on PlayStation®5 in 2025, continues Hideo Kojima's bold creative vision, blending emotional storytelling with a cinematic ensemble cast. Other projects include the title OD, in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, as well as numerous projects for the Death Stranding franchise, including a live-action film adaptation with independent entertainment company A24, an animated series and film, as well as a completely new and original action-espionage IP, Physint (working title). In 2009, Hideo Kojima received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in recognition for his work pioneering the stealth genre and furthering in-game narrative. That was followed by BAFTA Fellowship in 2020, the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA upon an individual in recognition of exceptional contribution to film, games, or television.

With its themes of independence and creative inspiration, Hideo Kojima's keynote reflects the inclusive values of GDC Festival of Gaming as a whole, which is evolving to address today's broader, interconnected games industry, bringing together game-makers, publishers, distributors, investors, founders, technologists, toolmakers, marketers, educators, and media in a single week of game changing connection, discovery, and learning.

Amid the major changes and ongoing restructuring within the games industry, many creators may be looking to take leaps of faith to independence and committing fully to their own vision and passions. Hideo Kojima's keynote address, "Restarting from Zero: A Message to Creators Considering Independence," will take place the morning of Thursday, March 12 and will reflect on the creation of Kojima Productions with personal insights into building a studio, developing projects, establishing a brand, and connecting with fans. From early creative concept development to finding a physical office space to work from and finding world-class talent to occupy that space, Hideo Kojima will share his journey, the pitfalls and the creative fulfillment of starting all over again.

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