At E3, it was announced that Metal Gear Solid developers Kojima Productions would be helping with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. But Kojima Productions isn't developing the game — that duty belongs to Madrid-based MercurySteam Entertainment.
So what is KP doing? Lending moral support, it seems.
"Kojima Productions is playing more of a support role," explains Kojima. "Castlevania is one of Konami's most important brands, one that's seen many releases since the original, and they've all been received warmly, but there's never been a Castlevania created to really satisfy Western gamers. This has become a big project, one with the idea that we needed to make a Castlevania which had that same kind of feverish Western support, and that's why Kojima Productions came in to help."
Oh. Okay, then! Not sure if we agree that "there's never been a Castlevania created to really satisfy Western gamers". Our next question, why is Konami pushing Hideo Kojima into the limelight and not series producer Koji Igarashi?
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be out next year on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. "It's got great gameplay and great action," says Kojima, "and the graphics are good even to Japanese eyes." Because Japanese eyes are the gold standard, yo.