Konami, a well-known Japanese spa manufacturer, yesterday uploaded final versions of Metal Gear Solid V’s box art. As you might expect, there’s no “Hideo Kojima” in sight.
Previous versions of the cover of MGSV, which comes out September 1, featured both the Kojima Productions logo on the bottom left and the words “A Hideo Kojima Game” above the title.
For comparison, here’s the old version:
This face-slap comes as no surprise to anyone who’s followed the ongoing Kojima-Konami clash, which started with Konami stripping Kojima’s name from various items on their website and has led to rumors that the veteran director will leave the company once his contract is up later this year. Konami also cancelled Kojima’s other announced project, the horror game Silent Hills.
And, hey, you could certainly argue that placing “A Hideo Kojima Game” on top of a title does something a disservice to all the other designers, programmers, producers, artists, sound designers, QA testers, and other developers who dedicated countless hours to the fifth (and presumably final) Metal Gear Solid. Kojima’s name is all over the game anyway. But this is still a bizarre, apparently offensive move.
You can reach the author of this post at jason@kotaku.com or on Twitter at @jasonschreier.