It is without a doubt that Hideo Kojima is one of the most celebrated video game developers in the industry. With games such as the Metal Gear Solid series and Death Stranding under his belt, it is impossible to deny that Kojima has had a major influence in the video game industry and his games are known for their innovative gameplay and immersive narrative.
Now, it has been announced that Hideo Kojima will be receiving the Fellowship at the BAFTA Game Awards on April 2, 2020. The Fellowship is awarded to an individual and recognizes a person's contribution to film, television, and games. It is worth noting that Kojima is not the first video game developer to receive the Fellowship and previous recipients include Tim Schafer, John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Peter Molyneux, Will Wright, and Shigeru Miyamoto.
Upon hearing the news, Kojima responded and expressed his appreciation to BAFTA. "I am very honored, and would like to take this moment to reflect on the many predecessors that came before me, as I deeply respect their contributions to entertainment, whether in movies, television, or games." Kojima then expressed his thanks to everyone who supported his career and made a commitment to finding "new and innovative ways" to push his games to a higher level of quality.
Kojima's career in video games took off in 1987 when he served as the designer of Metal Gear at Konami. Since then, Kojima defined the stealth genre and released a line of successful games that have since become iconic titles in video game history. After a 30-year stint at Konami, Kojima left the studio in 2015 and founded his own company called Kojima Productions, which has produced one title so far, Death Stranding.Â
Unsurprisingly enough, Death Stranding was a massive hit thanks to its innovative gameplay and unique storytelling. The game was released to the PlayStation 4, but a PC port for Death Stranding is currently in the works and is scheduled to release sometime this year.
After the commercial success of Death Stranding, many are wondering what's next for Kojima Productions. In an interview with Famitsu Weekly Magazine late last month, Kojima revealed that he is interested in developing smaller titles, which will probably be in the form of episodic or digital-only formats. Although this approach is a big departure from Kojima's usual triple-A games, it will be interesting to see how Kojima will apply his creative talents on a smaller scale.