Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, games, hideo kojima, Kojima Productions, Konami, Metal Gear, metal gear solid, metal gear solid 5, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Metal Gear Solid V, Metal gear solid V: the Phantom Pain, video games

Report Suggests Reasons For Konami/Kojima Split And Awful Working Conditions

The Konami/Hideo Kojima story refuses to die, as the increasingly poorly handled break up continues to be one of the biggest gaming stories of the year.

And this is one of the more troubling things to come out thus far. First off though, we will get to why Konami ended up splitting with Kojima. This all comes from a report from Japanese newspaper Nikkei and has then been translated to English by Kotaku. It says that one of the main reasons for the split was because of Dragon Collection, a cheaply made mobile game that exploded and became very profitable. Konami have now reportedly spent over $80 million on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, thanks to delays and Kojima's detailed demands. That is understandable and could be just another case of artist and business colliding. Konami found a cheaper, more profitable way to make games and want to follow that. That is their prerogative.

However, what isn't understandable is the reports recollection of work conditions at Konami. It says that Kojima Productions has been renamed unsexily to Number 8 Production Department. It claims that in here, employee's computers aren't hooked up to the internet and that they can only send messages to other in-office personnel.

It also says that employees are kept strictly to their lunch break times, and if they are at all late, their names are announced to the whole company. On top of this, there are also camera's throughout the offices that aren't meant for security, but instead surveillance of the employees.

Lastly, and perhaps worst, it turns out that employees who are not seen as 'useful' are being demoted to security guards, cleaning staff or jobs at the pachi-slot machine factory. This isn't reserved to junior levels either. That goes for experienced games producers and creatives too.

This sounds like a nightmare sci-fi. It's important to point out this is just a report and nothing has been confirmed. I almost hope this isn't true, and that it is just sensationalism, but if there is even a grain of legitimacy to it…eesh. What is going on over there?

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