Konami confirmed that, indeed, it closed down the Konami Los Angeles Studios, a development studio previously known as Kojima Productions.
It seems that Konami is hellbent on distancing itself to Hideo Kojima, arguably one of the most famous names in the video game industry today and its former game designer/creator.
According to IGN, the company made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio effective immediately due to the product development resources being restructured in a more centralized unit.
The studio may be known for contributing to the recent "Metal Gear Solid" games, but Konami said that it will still continue its operations to support all "Metal Gear Solid" titles.
That, of course, includes the newly launched "Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain" and "Metal Gear Online," which is due for release in PC stream this January 2016.
In a related report by Engadget, Konami is surely scaling back its efforts in the video game industry by closing the aforementioned studio. Unfortunately, the move also resulted into cutting over 20 jobs and the crew who worked hard to provide support and amazing ideas for games.
According to the report, Konami was reached for a statement or even a measly comment for the closure, including the fates of those employees who lost their jobs. However, it is safe to presume that Konami has no intention on injecting new life into the multiplayer "Metal Gear" experience.
It's not really hard to imagine the company doing such a thing because it's even willing to kill a successful flagship title like "Silent Hills." And with no incentive or apparent benefit to it, propping up a secondary title is not a possibility - no matter how popular it is.
As reported by Gamespot, the Los Angeles Studio was relatively new as it was opened just a couple of years ago, serving as a new division of Kojima Productions. It was tasked specifically to develop the online component of "Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain" and it is currently unclear to what extent it is involved in maintaining "Metal Gear Online."
Just last March 2015, it was reported that a power struggle between Konami and Kojima Productions happened, and the Kojima-led studio responsible for spawning successful titles for Konami, resulted in senior staff having limited access to emails, phone calls and corporate Internet.
As much as we would like to think that this is some corporate-crime thriller movie, it isn't ,and according to reports, it did happen.
And not soon after, we witnessed the man himself, Hideo Kojima, leaving the company after many years of fruitful partnership.
We just wish that "Silent Hills" see the light of day because if you watched the game preview, it's seems like it's nothing short of a video game masterpiece.
