No Place for Hideo? Or Just a Very Big Promotion?

By Shadow

Date: 4/16/11


On March 30th, it was announced that Hideo Kojima, famed writer/director/producer of the beloved Metal Gear Gearand Metal Gear Solid series, had achieved a massive promotion within Konami, the company that he works for and that covers his games. The change became effective on April 1st (hmmm……just in time for April Fool’s day), but it was no joke. Before I get into the details of Kojima’s new job, though, let’s have a small recap of who Kojima is.

Name: Hideo Kojima

DOB: 8/24/1963
Age: 47
Occupation: Film director, producer, screenwriter, video game designer, game director, game producer

Major Works:

  • Metal Gear
  • Metal Gear Solid
  • Tokimeki Memorial Drama
  • Zone of the Enders
  • Botaki
  • Castlevania


That’s a lot for one guy to do between 1987 and now! Yes, the original Metal Gear was created in 1987, the same year I was born (twenty-four years, and he’s already accomplished a lot). After twenty-four years of hard work, is it any surprise that Kojima has earned himself a promotion? Not at all, but it’s more surprising when you take into account just what position he was promoted to: Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment. 

Yes, anyone can make the argument that Konami is in the middle of a big house-cleaning that affects even the Board of Directors due to sluggish sales and less-than-exciting profits. But when you look into Kojima’s history with the company and the success that he has given them, it’s easy to understand why he has been rewarded with such a prestigious position. The man has been a driving force for Konami and is a good part of their success, and his production team is one of the few currently making a profit for the company. Kojima is so successful that, upon his desire to step down prior to MGS 3, he received death threats. Unfortunately, Kojima’s new position is all that’s been released, rather than what he’ll be doing. But given his new high-level position within Konami and the reasons they are making such a shakeup, I’m sure Kojima will use his success and leadership skills to change the position to make the company better.