Is Kojima Productions the next PlayStation acquisition?
According to Hideo Kojima, the answer is no — despite PlayStation's commitment to acquiring studios.
Acquisitions are nothing new in the video game world. Yet they’ve come squarely into the limelight in the wake of the massive and controversial Activision Blizzard acquisition by Microsoft. The Xbox company’s rival Sony is following suit, as they are committed to expanding the PlayStation Studios family. Yesterday, rumors were abound that Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima’s post-Konami development studio, was the next acquisition in line.
The supposed evidence for this was an update to the PlayStation Studios website banner art. The banner depicts games from several PlayStation-owned developers. Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Sony added art from Kojima Production’s Death Stranding. Naturally, this sparked rumors that Kojima Productions was next on Sony’s list.
However, recent evidence suggests that this isn’t true. Hideo Kojima went to Twitter to deny that the Kojima Productions acquisition was real. As he said:
The Kojima Productions acquisition isn’t happening
It’s not hard to understand how this rumor started. Sony has been a huge supporting player for Kojima Productions since it was founded. The company Kojima a platform to announce Death Stranding at E3 2016. The game eventually launched as an exclusive published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 in 2019 before later coming to PC and the PlayStation 5.
It’s also worth noting that Sony’s been on an acquisition spree recently, lending credence to the rumors surrounding Kojima Productions. Recently, President of Sony Interactive Entertainment confirmed that acquisitions are a core part of the PlayStation strategy. Earlier this year, Sony acquired Destiny developer Bungie as well.
For now, though, Kojima Productions remains committed to its independence. The developer released a director’s cut of the game for the PS5 in 2021, with a PC port of the deluxe edition launching last month.
While the rumors of a Kojima Productions acquisition are untrue, PlayStation nevertheless remains committed to scooping up developers. Which studios do you think Sony should acquire? Let us know!
Via Push Square.
