Konami Employee: “Let Us Know Where We Are Royally Screwing Up”, MGS5 PC Preload & E3 Showing

Ever since the release date of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was announced, there has been nothing but drama within Konami.

[ArchangelMike]

Hmm... where do I start....

[RmanX1000]

The list goes on and on...

[gameseveryday]

Silent Hills is a good starting point...I guess!

[breakpad]

eehh??? ..when you dismantled the whole Kojima team maybe??

[Genuine-User]

Yep

-Firing Kojima
-Terminating Silent Hill development
-Revoking our license for P.T.
-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
-Lack of clarification on almost everything

et cetera

[Yi-Long]

If they don't include the option for Japanese voices in MGS5, they're messing up.

[Gazondaily]

Well lets start with how the chap from Konami is actually peed off at Gamingbolt for making articles on this:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

"Could someone tell them to stop? Every time they get away with publishing this, I wind up getting a talking to by someone in Japan and they get closer to pulling my GAF card. At least label it as satire? Not an exec, guys. C'mon now."

Rashid. You need to stop it now.

[Bansai]

The guy said that on neo gaf and most definitely isn't an exec.

Stupid gamingbolt, last time I visit your site.

[umair_s51]

Why remove Kojima's name

[Transistor]

@ Rashid Sayed

Remove this article, you are going to get people in trouble.

When people are talking casually about something on NeoGaf, do not post it as a story. Some people can lose their jobs over things like this. He is not an exec, he is an employee.

If someone is teasing something on NeoGaf or leaking something on purpose, write it up if you want.

Have some respect for these people, while trying to pursue your career. It'll go a long way.

Remove it.

[pivotplease]

I agree and disagree. People should respect other people's careers, but people in certain industries need to maintain either a sense of anonymity and/or responsibility when it comes to posting online. Anything that comes of someone mixing their career with casual social interactions is technically the fault of the person saying things that their bosses wouldn't appreciate. Everyone knows this. I know people who have been fired over harmless Facebook and Twitter posts.

[Dir_en_grey]

Gamingbolt is really such a trash site with no morals, stop making sh*t up to get hits!
This site should be banned for how much made up crap they post.

[Old_Prodigy]

Their entire 2015 strategy for starters though...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

[zekk]

Not making a new suikoden?

[medman]

You can start at Kojima...you can end there too. Konami's gaming division certainly did. The show is over...no Kojima, no more party.

[3-4-5]

* Konami - Literally everything.

Not Figuratively.....actually LITERALLY everything.

You could not have made worse decisions.

Fire yourselves now, and it's a solid start.

* I'm saying this as somebody who's never played a Silent Hills or Metal Gear Solid game....ever.

From an outside perspective, which is kind of what I have on this issue, as it doesn't involve games I love.......

Konami...you messed up bad.

Somebody at Konami thinks they know more than they actually do.

The problem is, that person is in charge of everybody.

You can't then get rid of that top guy unless you mutiny.

[umair_s51]

Question #1) Why did you remove Kojima's name ?

[deadpoolio316]

There is ZERO chance it was said by an actual Konami exec, a neckbeard would pretend to be a Konami exec on neogaf before an actual Konami exec would get on neogaf...

Its also not rocket science as to why Kojima is gone and why Silent Hills was cancelled...They spent 60 million on MGS5 and wont make it back or make a profit.

Silent Hills was probably easily going to cost between 60-100 million plus, there is zero chance it would have turned a profit for Konami...

After MGS you can tell Konami wont be making many games anymore, it will be a title here and there and they will be made by small cheaper teams for a few million...Its smart of them, gaming has been losing them money for years, they make more off of everything else they do in Japan

[Haru]

60 millions is a medium AAA game budget is not even that much imo they can make back the money just selling 1 million copies of TPP 60$ x 1m = 60 millions and they're most likey going to sell a lot more than that around 5 million copies I'd say they, so won't only make back the investemnt but also 4x times the amount

[alstruck]

Suikoden!!!

The last big japanese rpg franchise that still missing. Tales and Final Fantasy is still alive, Kingdom Hearts going is back to home consoles after years stuck in handhelds, and even Star Ocean got revived.

[Syntax-Error]

Who the hell are you nerds to question the firing of an employee because you have a hard on for them. That's their business why they did it. It could have been insubordination which is grounds for termination by any company's standards. It's not like Kojima was a 'plays well with others' type of person to begin with. Everyone knows of his arrogance and controlling ways especially when it comes to Metal Gear. He might of gotten pissed because of the release date announced by Konami and that could've started the deterioration of the relationship. No one knows, but saying they messed up by firing an employee you like is totally fanboy behavior. I hate nerds

[-Foxtrot]

"Totally fine, I take no offense and always encourage fans to let us know where we are royally screwing up as to find out where we should be improving"

So the company knows what we've all been saying yet haven't came out and explained the entire thing.

Okay well you got rid of Kojima the companies life force, you are shifting into mobile, you've become money hungry, you're probably going to milk the MGS franchise and ruin it after MGSV and you cancelled Silent Hills after the incredible PT Demo.Then you have the fact you guys pretty much stomped Castlevania to the ground.

On one hand I want MGSV to do extremely well to show Konami sales they'll never get again....but on the other I'm doubting Kojima will benefit from any of that so I want the game to do poorly to show Konami how ticked off we are and too show them without Kojiam they will suffer. I mean lets face it they'll only listen if money is involved.

[Shadowstar]

Explain it? Ha! The company doesn't even explain what's going on internally. Everyone works on rumors and gets concrete info from the media. It's complete bullshit.

[Lighter9]

What happened to Castlevania? ::in the dark::

[Ratty]

They rebooted it when it was still doing fine and still had stories left to tell. Aside from that, I think some people are mad at Lord of Shadows 2 but I'm also in the dark about that one.

[DragonKnight]

This is a North American branch exec. He can say this all he wants to, it will amount to nothing. When a Japan exec says it, then you can say where they are screwing up. Konami treats their NA branch terribly.

[Linsolv]

Then there's dismantling Team Silent in the first place, as well...

[curtis92]

That seems like a rather hostile thing to say given all the recent events... Do they really want to go there?

[Enyxodin]

Like right now! Keeping the customers in the dark is one of them

[Nucler100]

This can't be foreal..

Lol, Is this satire?

Becauseeee it's pretty obvious where you're screwing up.

[Transistor]

This is putting on display for everyone how out of touch with reality Konami really is.

A lot of things recently hurt regarding Konami's ignorance, but them and Hideo Kojima separating is not one of them. It's a blessing, even if that means the end of Metal Gear as we know it, and I love Metal Gear.

[lutfarssmc]

People have already spoken. You r ROYALLY dumb to notice.

[ThunderPulse]

They fired Kojima and had a ton of pre-order cancels for MGSV they are dumb.

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Just bring back Suikoden.

Don't care about the whole Kojima, Silent Hills, etc...as much but all of that doesn't make you look all that good at this point in time.

[Ron_Danger]

Few things I'd do as a start:

1) Make a proper console sequel to Castlevania:SotN as a full 2D sprite animated game. I feel like going 3D button masher ruined what made the series so unique and special. Now that it's 3D it kinda just blends in with the rest of the third person button mashers (which as a spin off is fine cause I did enjoy them, just not as much as C:SotN).

2) Realize where your talent is (was) and don't stiefel them. The Kojima issue was aweful but at the same time, if they treated him with that kind of disrespect, just imagine what they do to their lower level programmers. Hideo was just the tip of the iceberg.

3) Abandon last gen and focus on one thing at a time. Instead of, say, having 100 employees working on a game that spans PC, PS3/4, and XBox 360/1, remove last gen and suddenly you open up 40% more employee efficiency (theoretically of course). I know that this also alienates gamers who haven't made the transition to current gen, but we're deep into year two and devs need to look to the future, not the past. It's getting pretty annoying that the only difference between some current and past gen games are a few more lense flares and clearer pixels.

4) Actually listen to fans. This isn't 1996. Twitter and other social media exists. Yeah there are trolls who crap on any idea that isn't exactly what they wanted, but there are also passionate gamers out there with valid complaints or amazing ideas that would improve your games. Unfortunately I'm starting to think that if a company is just now saying they'll listen, then it's too late. PT currently has one of the highest number of stars vs. number of ratings on PSN (not to mention that even non gamers know about it which says something cause it's not a CoD or Halo) and yet they gave it the axe.

Sorry if this rant is all over the place. It just sucks that a game company that brought so many awesome gaming experiences for me growing up (been buying their games for 20 years) is acting like the way they're acting.

[Solid_Penguin-64]

This'll be a long night...

[ThunderPulse]

No

[MilkMan]

I know what im about to say is not popular but I feel that if Konami wishes to get out of the gaming business its their prerogative. Or at the very least switch gears and focus on their own company.
I feel they should just release MSG with all the flair and attention to detail the title deserves and then sail off into their new ventures.
I don't think we should crucify them for what they wish to do.
It business never personal.

[boodi]

they fire HKojima , cease SH development , no detail on reasons ( wtf? serious ??) and focus on national slot machines and similar ????

what is mr. exec expecting , to have walk a red carpet rolled to him by konami fans ?

no a details or a reason on the happenings lately ?
serious???

[MilkMan]

and here is the other part of my unpopular way of thinking.
We really don't know whats happened or transpired between these two. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but we simply don't know.
Its all half-assed rumors and such. What we do know is that Konami wishes to change gears.
Kojima has been a superstar with Konami, I cant fathom that hed go from sweetheart to the son of Satan within the span of a few months.
But again, we had zero info on whats happening. Just some rumors and gossip flowing around the internet.

My stance is, support MGS V when it comes out and lets way until the gag orders are off so we can focus our anger and frustration in the right place.

[BG11579]

Oh boy... This is going to take some time...

[Ratty]

“Totally fine, I take no offense and always encourage fans to let us know where we are royally screwing up as to find out where we should be improving.”

I think Konami needs to improve in its lack of Hideo Kojima.

[boodi]

wtf , konamy exec.. ?
are you friggin jokin ? are you for real ?
if you are for real konami has gone nuts , but very badly ..
what did you expect Mr. , an horde of fans applause ?
wtf...jesus..

[MysticStrummer]

Too late for that, Konami exec.

[Skankinruby]

This almost seems condescending, but I'll bite anyways. Terminating both kojima and silent hills made you completely dead to your once extremely loyal fan base. I wont play phantom pain for free now

[kingeliran]

i dunno what im doing here, im just waiting for the witcher 3...

[MysticStrummer]

Gotta kill time somehow, right?

[Der_Kommandant]

EVERYTHING!!

[Tsubasa-Oozora]

I dont think they can do anything. They pissed off Kojima-san for sure and his whole team. His team build them their next-gen engine for PES and future games and then they just fire them.

[DafunkyRebel]

Don't care, just give me the game already, never buy from Konami again after that.

[Rob7274]

SUIKODEN!!!!

[Moe-Gunz]

Just know that after MGSV me and several other gamers are done with you Konami. If you don't know why you're just a bunch of idiots.

[umair_s51]

Dear Konami Exec,

Kindly explain Mr. Kojima's expected departure from your company.

Sincerely

[BABY-JEDI]

The guy @ the very top of Konami is to blame, then all the suck up's. My suggestion to said management. Add free DLC to the Phantom Pain, where Snake has to infiltrate the Konami offices & assassinate all their senior management. Once said mission is complete, Kojima gets reinstated to do Silenthill.
; )

[Spore_777]

A humble plea to gamingbolt staff- please refrain from posting articles without consulting Tora. It's unprofessional and he complained about it putting him in a tight spot with actual Konami execs. Thank you.

[DarkBlood]

Did they really revoke P.T license from our download history?

[DarXyde]

Yes. Got a message from PlayStation the other day stating that if we download it and we delete it, it's gone.

[DarXyde]

Start with putting Kojima’s name back on the product and tell us what on earth is going on. It can be brutally honest and inconveniently true, just let us know what's happening.

A little credit and transparency would go a long way.

[KryptoniteTail]

Too much emphasis on action and open world exploration over stealth and tactics, don't alter the existing canon like Kojima said he might, and bring back Doyle or Hayter as Big Boss (or at least include a Japanese audio option, I won't endure Jack Bauer throughout Metal Gear).

[WizzroSupreme]

Konami just opened Pandora's box with that offer...

[joinsideke]

Awesome that he had the balls to engage with the community. So far Konami has been radio silent, so good on him to take the brunt of all the world's complaints.

A very courageous man.

[DVAcme]

Allow me to count the ways:
-Letting Yoshitaka Murayama, creator of Suikoden, go.
-Letting Keiichiro Toyama, creator of Silent Hill, go.
-Letting Akira Yamaoka, composer and series runner of Silent Hill post-Toyama, go.
-Treating Koji Igarashi, series runner of Castlevania and pioneer of the Metroidvania genre, like absolute shit by demoting him to mobile games and ingloriously letting him go.
-Unnecessarily rebooting and handing over franchises like Silent Hill and Castlevania to sub-par development teams.
-Trying to pettily destroy Hideo Kojima's legacy when he was the only major creator and lucrative game developer they had left.
-Letting Hideo Kojima go before the release of his latest game in the Metal Gear Solid series and removing his name from the game, to the rage of the series' long-time fans.
-Cancelling one of the most anticipated titles they had in years, Silent Hills, and breaking the hearts of Hideo Kojima, Guillermo Del Toro and Norman Reedus in the process.
-Removing the critically acclaimed P.T. demo from the Playstation Network, even though it's the most critically acclaimed piece of software they've had in years.
-Announcing that they'd continue the Metal Gear Solid series without Kojima at the helm.
-Waiting to bank on legislation for the legalization of gambling in Japan that might not even happen while effectively nuking their gaming division.
-Just overall being a bunch of petty, shortsighted pricks.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

[Braid]

Silent Hills, that's what you royally screwed. The game was almost every SH fans' wet dream that we've been waiting for long, long years. You can't beat Kojima and Del Toro (speaking as a big fan of Pan's Labyrinth, by the way), and Norman Reedus looked like the perfect choice for a SH antagonist. I mean, look at the man's face and you'd see a tortured soul. The latest teaser was so good that I wanted to dance in my room. Literally. I could buy the uber mega edition of that game and proudly display it on my bookshelf.

And then, sh#t happened. A sh#t so big that it could make Jeff Goldblum go "That's one big pile of sh#t."

You gave us hope that Silent Hills could as well be the best SH game after the second iteration and then you send us home empty handed. I can't put my disappointment into words. Let's say whoever pulled that plug deserves to be haunted by the Pyramid Head himself. You cancel my most anticipated game of the decade and you want to be friends again, I'm afraid that's something I'll find very, very difficult.

[pwnsause_returns]

Ooohhh...Idk.. Let's start with how you guys intend to fire kojima and cancel silent hills and removing pt......

[Ken85]

Why are people commenting like someone at Konami is reading them. This is an article about them saying that theyre into constructive criticism, this isn't the actual forum for it though. Just an article...

[DVAcme]

It may not be a forum to tell Konami what we think, but it IS a forum to vent our frustrations and commiserate with fellow gamers who are as furious as we are. So overall, it's not a wasted exercise, I think.

[pwnsause_returns]

I'm pretty sure someone at konami looks at pages like this all the time as well as other companies....be it an employee or an executive... I'm sure an employee is looking at this and is sh**ng their pants right now...

[Themba76]

konami firing kojima is like nintendo firing shiguru myamoto very stupid move.

[Paolo11]

This news was posted without consulting the source. Very unprofessional to Gaming Bolt.

[P_Bomb]

What did konami do wrong?! For one you snakes revoked the entire license to PT so I can't even redownload it to my system even though it's been in my library since launch.

I can still redownload every pulled playstation demo ever going back to 2006 with items such as the gran turismo prologue something-or-other spec demo. I can still download the turtles in time demo even though the game itself got pulled from stores ages ago! Konami are literally the first to take something right out of my library.

See, I had the PT thing deleted cuz my kids were playing on my PS4 and it was shown on YouTube that you could still redownload PT as long as it was in your library. Packed the system away for a week not giving it a second thought. Then Konami pull the whole license without warning in an unprecedented dick move.

Loved PT, it was a surround sound/horror show piece in a gen' that to be honest has been extraordinarily underwhelming up to this point. Konami have just added to it by damaging 2 whole IP these past few weeks. Well, they're not getting a dime from me anymore. I bought MGS rising used for $4.75 but was gonna get MGSV day one at retail. Changed my mind. Up up down down left right blow me.

[GrmpyolGamer]

Its pretty bad when the stability and success of a company relies on 1 person being there. The company should be bigger than any 1 person but I guess that is not the case with Konami. No Kojima = No Konami apparently

[DAVIL3]

Well if we talk about optimizations they are A LOT BETTER then Few of those out there.
But yeah silent hill and the Kojimas departure will hit them harder then they expect.

[Iceman_Nightmare]

Should humiliate them in their e3 press conference, yell FUCK YOU! Bring PT back!!!!!!!

[Orionsangel]

Oh will tell you alright. Complaining is what we gamers are best at ;)

http://media.tumblr.com/tum...

[Kumomeme]

firing kojima and with disrespect remove all his name from his products following with dismantle of kojima production and takeover of kojipro's legacy include their newly los angeles studio was the starting

also,konami were neglect to respect creative people..P.T is one of victims...del toro are one of casuaties and most unfortunate were the fans

konami should listen more to fans too

[kasser]

It is obvious why Konami and Kojima are conflicting

Where Kojima is driven by technology and game design challenges as well as his big ambitions to make his games as big as Hollywood movies, Konami is turning its head toward where the easy money is flowing. They probably want things like Flappy Bird or Angry Bird, where costs to develop are so minimum and profit is gigantic.

I hope Kojima used these remaining months to wrap up loose ends on the MGS saga and make it feel a true "ending". Hopefully he shifts to a new organization or go independent. He'd do great under Platinum Studios or Square-Enix, who seem interested in high quality games. And I hope "PT" comes back in another form because for all we care, Konami did kill Silent Hill years ago anyways.

[_LarZen_]

If Konami was a punching bag. I would pound on it all day long...

[kenwonobi]

Where to start? Hmmm.... The list is so long. maybe they should just behead themselves for better results?