Hideo Kojima seems to be grappling more and more with the inevitability that he’ll one day die. The creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding held a new broadcast this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his studio, Kojima Productions. The event looked back at how far Kojima Productions has come, while also looking ahead to future projects like the Xbox-exclusive horror game OD and the mysterious PS6 title Physint.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Perhaps more than anything else to come from the showcase, though, was Kojima’s own repeated mention of his death. Many of these invocations of his passing seemed to be in jest, particularly as Kojima was talking about plans for the studio that will extend through the next 10 years. Still, even if only said jokingly, the fact that Kojima brought this up time and time again provides us with some brutally honest insight into what the famed game director is struggling with internally.
“I Don’t Know If I’ll Be Alive”
If you didn’t watch the Kojima Productions anniversary event for yourself, I can’t blame you. The broadcast ended up being about three hours in length and featured guests such as Phil Spencer, George Miller, and Guillermo del Toro, just to name a few. There was a conversational element to the event in its final hour or so that was hosted by Geoff Keighley, but much of it was dedicated to what’s coming up for Kojima Productions in the decade ahead. This is where Kojima began to talk more about the end of his own life.
When touching on the “Third Phase” of Kojima Productions, which consists of the studio’s plans from 2030 until 2035, Kojima introduced these strategies with the caveat that he might not even live long enough to see them through. “I don’t know if I’ll be alive, but Phase Three is coming,” he said. This was said with a chuckle, clearly indicating that he was just being playful, but this was only the first time that Kojima said something to this effect.
Later in the presentation, Kojima talked a bit more about Physint, which is presumed to be the big game from Kojima Productions that will launch in this 2030 to 2035 window. Not much was said about Physint itself, primarily because the game is still in the early stages of development. When talking about its concepts and ideas, though, Kojima said plainly, “I can’t die until I finish this project.”
This focus on death isn’t something that is coming out of nowhere for Kojima. In a profile earlier this year with GQ Magazine, Kojima revealed that he had recently had health problems that reshaped his approach to creating games. He now feels as though he’s running out of time and won’t be able to do everything that he wants before his life reaches its end.
“I feel nervous. I feel rushed,” Kojima said in the interview. “I still have a lot of things I want to do – that I need to do. I thought I could do anything if I was independent, but the reality is that I can’t. I always think of other, more weird stuff to make. But if I do that, and it doesn’t sell, my studio will go bankrupt. I know all the staff. I know the families of the staff. I have this burden on my shoulders.”
Kojima Continuing to Make Games at His Age Is a Rarity
Kojima is now 62 years old, which is a rare age for a game creator to still be in the director’s chair. Some of Kojima’s contemporaries, like Shigeru Miyamoto, Shinji Mikami, and Hironobu Sakaguchi, have all slowly started to pull themselves away from the day-to-day work of creating games and now largely just produce or oversee other endeavors at the companies in which they reside. While there are others of Kojima’s age still helming video games, Kojima is becoming a bit of a unicorn.
At one point this year, Kojima was simultaneously juggling work on Death Stranding 2, OD, and Physint, while also producing the Death Stranding movie, producing the Death Stranding animated project, and running the entirety of Kojima Productions. He’s arguably the busiest man in all of gaming, and that constant activity seems to be taking a toll on him in more ways than one.
Kojima has talked openly in interviews and on social media about how worn out he is from all of this work. A post from late 2023 perhaps puts this most succintly as he wrote, “I’m just too tired and exhausted these days.” This exhaustion is something that he says he tries to counter by working with people that he’s fond of, but it sounds like it’s still not preventing him from feeling any less tired.
“For me, working with people I like makes me live longer,” he said at the anniversary event. “Because I can say, ‘Oh, I want to go meet them!’ But I’m getting weaker now because I’m so busy.”
Just about anyone is going to feel more tired as they reach the later stages of life. In that regard, what Kojima is going through isn’t necessarily unique. What is unique, though, is that Kojima has made it clear that he’s never going to retire. Rather than wind down at this stage of his life, Kojima seems to be only ramping up further. He told GQ in the same interview that he wants to die while making something. Such an endeavor is a noble one, but it’s likely to continue keeping Kojima in this state of fatigue.
Kojima, Please Take Care of Yourself
If I’m being honest, I’m a bit worried about Kojima. The sheer amount of work and pressure that he must be dealing with at a single time is more than I can imagine. For him to still find a way to be creative in the midst of that pressure is pretty incredible.
Still, I hope that this next decade of Kojima Productions is one that sees Kojima focusing on his own mental and physical health more than anything. I want to see a future where Kojima is still creating games (or perhaps films) in his 80s or 90s. Kojima clearly wants the same thing, which is why he says he’s prioritizing his health.
“I intend to continue creating things for as long as I live,” Kojima said in a post on his birthday this year. “My stance on ‘creation’ is to ‘not overwork’ and to ‘take it easy,’ and I will continue to give it my all even after my 60s. I will keep taking care of my health on a daily basis.”
Kojima has already given us more than most other game creators could dream of. His resume speaks for itself and his penchant for coming up with ideas that look to further merge gaming and film is just as trailblazing now as it was nearly 30 years ago with Metal Gear Solid. He could retire tomorrow and would already have a storied legacy that would continue to resonate in the decades to come.
Kojima choosing to continue to work, though, is something that I celebrate. I also appreciate how candid he is about knowing that he’s in the later stages of his life. Death is something that comes for us all, but too often, we choose to ignore it and not appreciate the time we’re given. Kojima is doing the opposite and seems to be more appreciative of the time he has remaining than ever.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Paramount+ -
A closeup of a PlayStation 5 with a controller on top.
