Just shortly before the end of this year's The Game Awards, Kiefer Sutherland took the stage to accept an award for his work on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Much to many gamers' surprise, Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, wasn't alongside him. The reason may surprise you.
Kojima had every intention of being at The Game Awards 2015, but was recently informed by his lawyer that Konami wouldn't allow it. If he were to attend, he would open himself up to a lawsuit due to a document he signed and agreed to.
This information was shared live by journalist and The Game Awards Producer Geoff Keighley. He did share that Kojima was watching live from Japan, and hoped that he would see him at next year's show.
As a fan of Kojima's work, I find this extremely upsetting. He has devoted years of his life to making the best Metal Gear games he could. He lost sleep during development cycles, creatively announced his games, and had a consistent record of delivering outstanding experiences. This year's swan song, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, was able to achieve one of the highest average review scores in gaming history despite being pushed to market before Kojima could complete his vision. He knew how to make games, and unlike anyone else on the planet resulting in outstanding profit margins for Konami.
To be disrespected to such an unbelievable degree is distasteful. Konami has seemingly intentionally earned itself a hellish record during the past year, and there's no going back at this point.
