Hideo Kojima PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Hideo Kojima is no longer a Konami employee. That's according to award-winning journalist Simon Parkin, writing for the New Yorker. While the report hones in on the mechanisms behind the auteur's departure from Konami – mobile games, exploding console budgets, and so on – it states that the Metal Gear Solid maker left his workplace of almost 30 years for the last time on 9th October.

According to one of the guests who attended his leaving party, it was a "rather cheerful but emotional goodbye". Allegedly, the publisher's president Hideki Hayakawa and chief executive Sadaaki Kaneyoshi were not in attendance. Various colleagues of Kojima – both old and new – did show up to say goodbye to one of the greatest game directors of all time, however.

The article concludes that Kojima will now have to wait until December before seeking new employment, as there's a non-compete clause in his contract. It also alludes that he's not allowed to discuss his departure in public for the time being. None of this is a surprise, of course – but it is a sad way for things to end.

[source newyorker.com]