The rumor mill in the video game industry is almost endless. Supposed insiders are constantly stirring the pot and giving credence to wild fan theories, that sometimes indeed come true, but oftentimes end up leading to disappointment. No single developer has more rumors surrounding them than Hideo Kojima has had over the past few years. From reportedly working on a deal for an exclusive Xbox game, to working in partnership with Konami to make a new Metal Gear. As well as supposedly being behind the massive Bluebox Games conspiracy, Kojima is no stranger to rumors, especially in regard to the purchase of his independent studio Kojima Productions.
Kojima Productions Joining PlayStation?
This past week a rumor started to gain traction that PlayStation is planning to or has already acquired Kojima Productions. This isn’t the first time this rumor has been stated, as Kojima has had a long and fruitful relationship with PlayStation. It’s clear to see that this partnership means a lot to PlayStation as Guerrilla Games the team behind Killzone and Horizon Forbidden West was a crucial part of the development of Death Stranding, With Guerilla even providing their in house game engine Decima to Kojima’s team, which led Death Stranding to be one of most stunning games on PlayStation 4. But what kicked off this acquisition rumor? It was a simple first-party banner photo that PlayStation social teams shared.
Originally reported by VGC, a Resetera user found a recently uploaded banner photo that featured the main character from Death Stranding Sam, as a focal character in the banner. This led to speculation as the banner represented first-party software releases from PlayStation. Did this mean that PlayStation had finally been able to bring Kojima Productions into the fold? This appears to be unlikely, as Kojima himself posted the photo and stated.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but Kojima Productions has been and will continue to be an independent studio”.
This seems like a pretty and open shut case, considering the owner of the studio shut down this rumor almost immediately. However, many will remember that Bluepoint did the same thing just a few months before their acquisition was finally announced. Could Kojima Productions be purchased by PlayStation? Absolutely. Is it going to happen? That remains to be seen at this point. Only time will tell but as a big fan of Kojima, I am far more interested in what game he is working on next as Death Stranding was released almost 3 years ago. It feels like we might hear something about his next project in the coming months and that is incredibly exciting. But for now, all we have is rumors and speculation as always.
I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS has been and will continue to be an independent studio. https://t.co/2M0n4ogRaa
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) April 15, 2022
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