Highlights
- Hideo Kojima, the creator of the iconic Metal Gear Solid series, is being left out of the new credits for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1.
- Konami's decision to downplay Kojima's involvement in the series may be due to their soured relationship during the development of Metal Gear Solid 5.
- The omission of Kojima and other original staff members from the new credits may divide Metal Gear Solid fans and spark controversy.
Hideo Kojima helped create the iconic Metal Gear Solid series, but his name is being left off the new credits for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1. Hideo Kojima got his start working for Konami’s MSX home computer division in 1986, where he helped develop the original Metal Gear. This would spawn the highly successful Metal Gear Solid series, which made Kojima a household name.
Unfortunately, Hideo Kojima’s relationship with Konami seemingly soured during the development of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, which was released to near-universal acclaim in 2015. Despite its success, Konami announced that it would be cutting ties with Kojima and his in-house development studio Kojima Productions as part of a controversial corporate restructuring shortly before its release, and as a result his name was left out of the marketing for both The Phantom Pain and its prequel Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. Kojima and his team have since moved on to other projects like Death Stranding and an unnamed Xbox-exclusive title.
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It looks like Konami is continuing to downplay Hideo Kojima’s involvement in the Metal Gear Solid series, as many Twitch streamers who got to play Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 before its launch later this week are reporting that he isn’t mentioned in the compilation's new credits. Instead, the wrappers for each game in the Master Collection simply contain a message thanking “all original Metal Gear series staff and fans.” It’s worth pointing out that Kojima and many other members of the original Metal Gear Solid development staff are still listed in the individual credits of each game, as they are unaltered from the original releases.
Hideo Kojima isn’t the only big name left off of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1’s new credits, as David Hayter (the longtime voice of Solid Snake before being recast by Kiefer Sutherland in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain) was also left unnamed. The rest of the voice cast for the entries remastered in Master Collection Vol. 1, consisting of the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, were also simply grouped with the collection’s “thank you” message.
The issue of addressing the creators of a game in a future remaster was brought up earlier this year with Metroid Prime Remastered, which similarly left the original Retro Studios staff unmentioned in favor of a generic message saying that the remaster was “based on the work of Metroid Prime original Nintendo GameCube and Wii Version development staff.” While Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 does at least acknowledge Hideo Kojima in the original credits for each game, his omission from the collection’s new credits will likely spark even more division among Metal Gear Solid fans.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 will be released on October 24th for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: VCG
