Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima has shared some insight into the early days of Konami including his thrifty tactics while developing the original Metal Gear Solid.
The famed developer took to X (below) to talk about the significance of the classic PlayStation game, saying it marked a huge change for him as he was in charge of production for the first time instead of just development.
Kojima therefore went to great lengths to reduce costs, even stopping his team from working at night to keep the office’s electricity bill down.
MGS1 was a major turning point for me. Not only was it the first major PlayStation game to be released worldwide, but it was also a major change in terms of production. Although I had previously planned, written, designed, and directed the game, my superiors had been responsible… pic.twitter.com/WdgtLvdQTX
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) September 3, 2023
“[Metal Gear Solid 1] was a major turning point for me,” Kojima said. “Not only was it the first major PlayStation game to be released worldwide, but it was also a major change in terms of production.
“Although I had previously planned, written, designed, and directed the game, my superiors had been responsible for production. I had no authority to make decisions on platforms, budgets, release dates, promotions, hiring of staff, participation of outside creators, and so on.”
When Konami established a production subsidiary in Tokyo’s Ebisu area in 1996, however, all of these decisions were now in Kojima’s hands.
“[Metal Gear Solid 1] was the first work I produced on my own,” he continued. “To reduce the monthly electricity bill, I asked the company to stop working at night. I also launched a drama series in parallel in order to turn a profit as soon as possible, and ported Bemani in order to stabilize the profit for the fiscal year.”
His tactics seemingly worked, as Metal Gear Solid launched to resounding success and sparked a still-growing franchise that’s now 25 years old.
While no brand new titles have released in a few years (as Kojima left Konami to form his own studio and Death Stranding), a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 is currently in development. Konami is also releasing a collection of the original trilogy and some other bits on October 24.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
