Hideo Kojima Nearly Quit Konami Right Before Metal Gear Solid 2's Release
Hideo Kojima nearly quit Konami ahead of Metal Gear Solid 2's release. Hideo Kojima is one of the most prolific video game developers out there and has been known for his masterful storytelling as well as rich, innovative game design. It's pretty remarkable what he has accomplished over the years, but it almost came to a very abrupt halt in 2001. Metal Gear Solid 2 was one of the best games on the PS2 and is one of the best gaming sequels out there, even though it completely misdirects the player by revealing Raiden as a surprise protagonist in the early hours of the game.
However, Hideo Kojima was really troubled ahead of the game's release. Just weeks before Metal Gear Solid 2 was released, the world witnessed the most horrific terrorist attack in history on September 11th, 2001. Kojima was troubled by this incident for a number of reasons, but partially because they had just sent the master disc (essentially what would be the final version of the game) out and it featured both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in a relatively prominent way. Kojima told IGN (via Kotaku) that he was considering quitting Konami around the release of Metal Gear Solid 2 and felt like releasing the game itself was "impossible". However, he pulled through.
"As I thought about what to do, I went to speak with Mr. Kozuki about possibly quitting the company," said Kojima. "That's when he told me: 'When this game comes out and society has their say about it, they'll be talking about you, its creator, and me, the person who sold it. I doubt they'll say anything about anyone else. What will you do? I'm ready for whatever happens.' When I heard how far he was willing to go, I made the firm decision that we'd release it together. The rest is history."
Kojima's hesitation is most definitely understandable. Given the nature of the game and how sensitive the world was following 9/11, it was a difficult time. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, Grand Theft Auto 3, and a number of other entertainment projects had to remove the Twin Towers from things like marketing materials or even the entire project as a result of the terrorist attack.
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