In an interview with Famitsu, Hideo Kojima discusses the challenges he faced after leaving Konami.

"It was three years and nine months ago that I struck out on my own," says Kojima. "At that time, I was 53 years old. That's an age in which you'd retire, right? My family members were also against the idea [of me setting up a new studio]. I was a 53-year-old middle-aged guy, I didn't have any money or much of anything else, and it was just me saying I was going to make this open-world game."

Kojima also talks about the difficulties of setting up a new studio. He says when he went to a bank in Japan to ask for a loan, they wouldn't give it to him because "you don't have any actual results," says Kojima. Things were looking up after a banker at the largest bank in Japan who was a big Kojima fan gave him the financing he needed.

In addition to the financial struggle, Kojima says that people doubted he could make a good game on his own. "The reason for that is that there hasn't been a single world-famous game designer who has had success after striking out on their own," Kojima says. Prior to Death Stranding, Kojima made a name for himself as the creator of the Metal Gear series which started on the MSX2 in 1987.

"The reason why I'm who I am now is because of the 30 years I had at Konami," Kojima says. "I am grateful to Konami, and I cannot deny that connection."

Death Stranding launches on November 8, exclusively on PlayStation 4.