Kojima Productions

Logo of the studio's second incarnation since 2015

**Kojima Productions** is a Japanese independent videogame developer based in Tokyo, Japan. Named and led by videogame director and writer Hideo Kojima, the studio was originally a subsidiary under Konami that was officially formed in 2005 after the merger of several development teams in the company. It was shut down in 2015 due to internal dispute between Kojima and Konami, and was rebuilt as an independent studio later that year.

Prior to its closure, Kojima Productions was best known for the *Metal Gear* franchise which was synonymous with PlayStation during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Following the studios' reformation as a privately-held company, Kojima Productions signed a contract with PlayStation maker Sony Interactive Entertainment to develop a console exclusive for the PlayStation 4, which was formally announced as *Death Stranding* and was produced with help from Sony's Guerrilla Games, which also provided the Decima game engine. The game also saw release on personal computers, with 505 Games taking over publishing duties.

In December 2022, Kojima Productions unveiled a second project with Sony, a sequel tentatively called *Death Stranding 2*.

## History

### 2015 - 2019: Reformation and *Death Stranding*

On December 16, 2015, Kojima Productions was officially reformed as an independent game studio with support from Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive officer and president Andrew House; as part of the partnership, Kojima Productions would develop a console exclusive title for Sony's PlayStation 4 console, followed by a PC release. In addition to Kojima himself, the new studio was co-founded by longtime collaborators, artist Yoji Shinkawa and designer Kenichiro Imaizumi, alongside Shinji Hirano who would serve as the studio president.

The game was formally announced as *Death Stranding* at Sony's E3 conference in June 2016. At the time of the announcement, Kojima was still undecided on what engine the game would make use of, having traveled with PlayStation 4 architect Mark Cerny to meet various Sony studios; the teaser trailer was made using one of two game engines Kojima Productions settled on. In December 2016, Kojima announced the studio will collaborate with Sony's Guerrilla Games and use their game engine, Decima.

*Death Stranding* released in November 2019 to generally positive reviews, though several outlets noted a more divisive reception than originally predicted. Prior to the game's release, Kojima confirmed that the game would come to PC, with 505 Games publishing it. By March 2021, combined sales of both versions reached 5 million copies.

## Relationship with other studios

### PlayStation Studios

#### Bend Studio

Bend Studio provided development support on 2019's *Death Stranding*.

#### Insomniac Games

Insomniac Games provided development support on 2019's *Death Stranding*.

## Games developed

### Main developer

 *Death Stranding 2* | TBA | PlayStation 5 | n / a

## References

1. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/16/kojima-and-sony-officially-announce-partnership
2. ↑ https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/publishing/shinji-hirano-named-as-new-president-of-kojima-productions/
3. ↑ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/death-stranding-kojima-productions-first-game
4. ↑ https://www.polygon.com/e3/2016/6/15/11948540/death-stranding-teaser-playable-hideo-kojima
5. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/kojima-partnering-with-killzone-horizon-dev-guerri/1100-6445954/
6. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/death-stranding-critical-consensus
7. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/nov/16/death-stranding-hideo-kojima-the-years-most-divisive-game
8. ↑ https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/28/20936020/death-stranding-pc-port-launch-2020-hideo-kojima
9. ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-death-stranding-i-has-reached-5-million-sales-across-ps4-and-pc