Why did Hideo Kojima leave Konami?
Hideo Kojima
At the 2013 Game Developers Conference, Kojima unveiled "", which was set to be his final "Metal Gear" work, noting that this time unlike previous announcements that he had stopped working on the series, was very serious about leaving. In March 2015, reports began to surface that Kojima would part ways with longtime publisher Konami after the release of "The Phantom Pain". Konami later stated that they were auditioning for new staff for future "Metal Gear" titles and removed Kojima's name from the series' marketing material. Despite reports that Kojima left the company in October 2015, a spokesman for Konami stated that he was "taking a long time off from work." At The Game Awards 2015, "Metal Gear Solid V" won the awards for Best Action Game and Best Score/Soundtrack, but Kojima did not attend the event, being reportedly barred from attending by Konami. Instead, it was accepted by Kiefer Sutherland on his behalf.
Kojima Productions
Though Kojima had been designing games at Konami since 1987, the studio was not officially formed until 2005. However, Konami retroactively referred to Kojima's earlier productions as belonging to the studio. All Kojima Productions games released until 2015 were published by Konami.