The last decade for Hideo Kojima has been a strange one to say the least; starting with the release of a new major Metal Gear game on the original PSP, titled Peace Walker in 2010 was an unusual decision. The fact that the game was originally developed as Metal Gear Solid 5 was even more bizarre. The weirdest part of all of this was that Peace Walker ended up being the prequel in the real mainline title Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Kojima’s development of the Fox Engine alongside Konami proved to be very costly, both financially and for the pair's relationship. 

The Metal Gear series' 25th anniversary in 2012 marked the announcement of Ground Zeroes. While the game was originally intended to be released alongside Metal Gear Solid V, its long and expensive development prompted Konami to release this part of the game first, likely in an attempt to recoup development costs prior to Phantom Pain’s release the following year in 2015. 

Before Phantom Pain’s release, Kojima had released PT, the now legendary ‘playable teaser’ for Silent Hills. Silent Hills would have been Kojima’s own vision for continuing the dormant horror series. Kojima was set to work alongside film director Guillermo Del Toro and actor Norman Reedus, and the two would have heavily featured both in the game itself and its marketing.

Somewhere in this period of time, Konami decided their cheaper endeavors with mobile games and pachinko machines were more profitable ventures long-term for the company, deciding to remove themselves from conventional game development altogether. This prompted an incredibly ugly and drawn out breakup between Konami and Kojima Productions, one that affected the development of both the soon-to-be cancelled Silent Hills and Phantom Pain. Allegedly, Kojima was not even able to be in the same room as his staff as development was wrapping up. The second half of Phantom Pain’s story consisted of replaying missions from the first half, with another entire chapter cut with only a title card and a half-finished final cutscene remaining in the games files. 

But in a twist of fate, Kojima's breakup from Konami would lead to a period of excess and innovation from the Japanese auteur in an industry that sorely needed it.

In 2016, . Kojima formed his new studio = a now independent and reformed Kojima Productions no longer under Konami’s banner. He reunited with Del Toro and Reedus for 2020’s Death Stranding. The game’s leadup to release was marked by its impressive cinematic trailers shown at various E3 showcases and Game Awards premiere’s. Despite the positive reception to these trailers, not much was known about the actual game until just before its release. 

Death Stranding is, in essence, a walking simulator. The game centers around delivering packages around rough terrain and horror game enemies. What would normally be a strange tech demo that was difficult to envision as a full-fledged game, let alone a big budget one, became just that. You may spend much of your time traversing largely barren (if beautiful) terrain, but the actual nuances of how you get from point A to point B are incredibly thought out. The same encouragement of non-lethal combat in the game through both mechanics and narrative stays true to the Kojima philosophy shown in all of the Metal Gear games. Not to mention the asynchronous multiplayer aspect of the game, which encourages players to leave notes for each other, set up ropes, build bridges and even post boxes in order to aid both yourself and other players. It offers an experience that can’t be found in any other game.

None of this should've worked in theory. Somehow, Kojima’s absurd cult of personality throughout the industry allows him to buck modern trends and create something so wholly original and taboo by today's rules. He did that to an extent under Konami, innovating the stealth genre with the original Metal Gear for the MSX, but without them his creativity has been truly unleashed. None of this should be surprising given his track record, but in an industry that seems more set in its ways than ever, it’s a breath of fresh air.

What Konami did when they distanced themselves from Kojima Productions before Phantom Pain’s development had even finished, while far more public and scrutinized than other studios in the years since, was not atypical compared to major studios in recent years. Many AAA studios have struggled to keep up with the massive rise in video game budgets and development times, prompting serious discussions about developer crunch and wages. 

With major changes to the industry in the time since Phantom Pain’s release, games like Death Stranding will likely be few and far between. Kojima’s bizarre 2020 release will hopefully mark a shift, however minor, for everyone in the industry. That going against the grain and breaking convention can still result in financially successful games that players will continue to get excited for and support with their wallets. This is easier said than done for someone like Hideo Kojima, who’s breaking of convention by innovating the stealth genre allowed him this kind of freedom his entire tenure with Konami.