Kojima Productions—the studio founded by industry legend Hideo Kojima—vehemently denied a recent report suggesting P.T was created behind Konami’s back.
It’s been nearly six years since renowned video game writer/director Hideo Kojima partnered up with Guillermo Del Toro in developing the horror sandbox title Playable Teaser (P.T).
P.T was essentially a high-level teaser meant to set up the upcoming Silent Hill reboot, which was subsequently scrapped by Konami leading to a major public falling out, which apparently remains a hot topic even today.
French video game publication Gameblog.fr reportedly ran a story about how Kojima developed the horror title without Konami’s knowledge, prompting the Japanese developer’s normally quiet studio to respond.
Gameblog makes some heavy accusations, Kojima responds
According to the gaming website Gamereactor, the French publication received a tip from sources close to both Kojima and Konami, explaining how P.T was in fact worked on by a small group of Kojima Productions employees unbeknownst to the developer.
The project was allegedly so hush-hush, that most of Konami’s bigwigs only found out about the game as it was announced during Gamescom 2014.
Gameblog’s story came with an even bigger accusation, stating that Kojima established a “ghost company” for the sole reason of slipping P.T‘s release on the PlayStation Store under Konami‘s radar.
Moreover, part of the funds meant for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was reportedly used on the development of P.T and Silent Hills, with Kojima requesting for a bigger budget. This, in turn, would end up causing delays in Metal Gear’s target release date.
A recent report has suggested that Kojima’s mistreatment from Konami was due to his pulling funds out of The Phantom Pain’s budget to create the ill-fated P.T., a statement that Kojima Productions absolutely denies: https://t.co/nET45bejsm pic.twitter.com/LmwNJFTKRl
— Prima Games (@PrimaGames) June 27, 2020
Kojima Productions was quick to respond to the article, issuing a statement via its official Twitter account. The studio’s Global Head of Marketing and Communications Jay Boor emphatically denied the rumors, calling the article “categorically false.”
"KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS normally does not comment on rumors or speculation, however we can confirm that the article recently posted on https://t.co/zDfUnEnnip is categorically false."
– Jay Boor, Global Head of Marketing and Communications https://t.co/d3o5rV0K0O— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 24, 2020
Rumors about the Kojima-Konami split
While no concrete evidence has surfaced regarding the true reason behind the falling out, several employees, who chose to remain anonymous, came forward offering explanations.
According to them, the majority of the disagreements between the two revolved around the production of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, resulting in the game’s current ending which most gamers describe as lackluster and unfinished.
The Japanese developer walked away from the project without seeing it through to the end, leading most people to believe that he never wrapped up The Phantom Pain’s story-line.
https://twitter.com/AOLAccount/status/1118525798040965120
A significant number of Twitter users have rallied in support of Hideo Kojima, denouncing Gameblog’s claims.
Images [1] and [2] courtesy of Kojima Productions