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Mere weeks away from Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Hideo Kojima has spoken about his legacy. Now 61, he’s been making video games for 40 years, and though he expects Kojima Productions to live on without him, he doesn’t want the team to approach things the same after he's retired.
The topic came up during a wide-ranging interview with GQ, where Kojima addressed being in the twilight of his career. The Metal Gear Solid creator still has plenty of ideas, but when someone else is in charge, he'd rather they serve as inspiration than become an MO.
"I am not going to pass the baton to anyone. I will rather crush the baton," he laughs. "I don't need to give ‘Hideo Kojima’ to anyone. If I pass the baton to my staff and tell them to make things the same way I do, the company will not succeed and will go out of business."
He elaborates by explaining that creators often contact him to explain how his work impacted their lives. He wants to inspire his team members in the same way, igniting their passion and creative flow.
"They say, 'I'm a creator because of your games.’ But they didn't receive the baton of Hideo Kojima," he states. "They received my small fire. They're not copying me. They're not trying to be me. They have this fire, and they light up their own. And they'll probably give that to someone else."
It sounds like whatever unfinished work he leaves at his company will be just another resource, something to tap into, but not an outright guideline. His position is admirable and remarkably forward-thinking.
Kojima Productions has finished two games thus far, both Death Stranding installments. Two more are in the pipeline: OD, a horror project for Xbox, and Physint, another Sony production. Besides those, Kojima intends to direct a movie, a longtime aspiration of his.
Whatever you think of his work, anything with his name tends to stand on its own and get people talking, and his comments suggest he wants his company always to operate that way.
