Hideo Kojima doesn't 'like being thought of as the Metal Gear guy

Hideo Kojima may be the best-known single-franchise game developer. His 25 years with the Metal Gear series have defined the majority of his career, and while other projects like cult classic adventure game Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, and helping out with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow have met some success, Snake retains a boa-constrictor hold on his portfolio.

"I’m often misinterpreted," Kojima told EGM. "I've always said that I want to work on original properties, but Metal Gear offers plenty of benefits. The Fox Engine, for example, took a lot of time and money [to create]; we were only able to develop it because it was intended for the next Metal Gear [possibly Ground Zeroes]. In the next game, I'm introducing concepts intended for entirely new intellectual properties using the Metal Gear brand."

Kojima hopes the groundwork his continued work on the Metal Gear series lays down will allow him to aspire further than the world of sneaking missions and secret societies.

"I'll admit that I hope my future endeavors are thought of as 'works by Hideo Kojima' rather than 'from the creator of Metal Gear,'" he said. "I haven't really shown the world what else I might be capable of yet. This may sound pretentious, but I don't like being thought of as 'the Metal Gear guy.' There's a lot more I can do."