After a year long battle between Hideo Kojima and Konami it finally appears that it is all over. According to Japanese outlet Nikkei, effective today Kojima is officially no longer employed by Konami.
Up next for the Metal Gear creator are plans to start up a brand new studio alongside former Konami employees. Kojima reportedly is in talks with Sony to launch the new studio’s debut game on the Playstation platform.
In October of this year it was reported by The New Yorker that Kojima had officially left the studio, though Konami would later deny those reports by still saying Kojima was still an employee but was “taking long time off from work.” Rumors then began circulating that Kojima was under a non-compete clause through December of this year. The Los Angeles Kojima Productions studio was shut down a month later.
The last incident involving the two sides came directly to the public eye at this year’s Game Awards. After winning the Game Award for Best Action/Adventure Game for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, friend and host of the show Geoff Keighley revealed Konami prevented Kojima from attending the awards. Keighley later stated on reddit AMA that his coming to defense of his friend was “unrehearsed” and those working on the show were unaware of it.
Hopefully now the two can move on from the messy situation into their next ventures.