Kojima Productions has released a Twitter post stating that they may take legal action against libelous claims made about game director Hideo Kojima.
Yesterday, French far-right politician Damien Rieu and numerous news outlets such as ANT1 TV Greece and Iranian news network Mashregh News released images of Kojima misidentifying him as assassin Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested for the murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Kojima, 58, is an acclaimed game developer known for the “Metal Gear” franchise. He is considered an auteur of video games, and is a self-proclaimed cinephile. His games often contain significant political and cultural commentary that has prompted significant discussion and analysis.
Kojima’s “Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty” in particular touches on themes of misinformation, memetics, social engineering, and the Information Age. In an often analyzed conversation between the protagonist and a pair of “benevolent” AI, censorship is claimed to be a means to protect humans from “fake news” and the constant stream of information from the internet. The game asserts that humans have no way of effectively dealing with this situation.
“Metal Gear Solid 2” was released in 2001.
After leaving Konami in 2015, Kojima established Kojima Productions as an independent studio.
By BHIT YOON