Late last year, Hideo Kojima set up his new studio and started work on a brand new title. In a recent Famitsu interview, he talks about how things are progressing.
Granted, this past February, the former Metal Gear maven also talked a teeny bit about his upcoming title, saying it was “big” and has “lots of freedom.” But, in this recent interview, he provides a few more details on the upcoming Sony exclusive.
Famitsu pointed out that since the new Kojima Productions was only a few months old, the studio probably hasn’t made it that far in development for obvious reasons.
“Well, we made this company on December 16, right? Even taking that into account, we already had a game plan on December 18. That’s because there are lots of things I want to do and lots of things I want to try to do.”
Earlier in the interview, Kojima explained more about the current situation. According to Kojima, he wanted to take time off after leaving Konami, but decided against it, saying it would be no good for him, it would ruin the tempo of his daily life and that people wanted to play his next game as soon as possible. From coming up with an idea to assembling a team, you really need about a year to prep, he explained. “Currently, we have a webpage and a logo and are in a temporary workspace.” Setting up the basic studio infrastructure takes time, and Kojima Productions is still in its hiring and setting up shop phase. That doesn’t mean Kojima has ceased creating.
Famitsu asked if he had come up with a design plan for his game. “It’s a great game,” Kojima replied. “Currently,” he continued, “I’m coming up with the plot, the characters and the game system and whatnot. Since there are substantially new elements [in the game concept], we have to test and try things out. It’s not like I’m just thinking about this in my head. While we’re testing things, I’m having Shinkawa draw characters and rough illustrations.”
Shinkawa, of course, is artist Yoji Shinkawa, Kojima’s long time collaborator.
“Because we don’t yet have a game engine,” Kojima said, “we’re doing tests with whatever is usable.” Kojima would not elaborate further on what that meant, however.
When asked if was open world, he replied, “I don’t believe I said previously that this would be open world, right? ...I didn’t say that it would be open world...” (Knowing Kojima, he also didn’t not say that it would so make of that what you will!) He did say that the game would be something that players who enjoy AAA titles like The Division or Uncharted would be able to get into. Meaning? Expect a big game, no doubt.
Kojima asked Famitsu, “What kind game do you think I’m planning to make?” The magazine asked if there would be shooting, and Kojima replied, “There might be guns shooting... There might not be guns, though.” When pressed further about the game’s genre, he said, “Action, it’s action, perhaps. Even if we changed the engine, I’d want the good feeling of action to remain.” He added that action was the “real thrill” of video games.
But that doesn’t mean Kojima’s game is going to be just another game. He used his previous work to explain what he meant. “When talking about Metal Gear,” he said, “people have called it ‘stylish’ up to now, and it’s has this “don’t be spotted” element in the main concept. Meaning that this is something that hadn’t existed before.”
“It’s a type of play that’s difficult to convey in words,” Kojima Productions artist Yoji Shinkawa, who also participated in the interview, added after that remark.
“I have the same feeling that I did when I made the first Metal Gear,” he said, explaining that there was a bit of uneasiness as well as excitement as to whether people will actually play the game as intended.
“I don’t yet know when we can announce it. But please look forward to when we do.”
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