Los Angeles based Kojima Productions which worked on Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has shuttered. Konami has confirmed the same in a statement to Polygon that the studio didn’t fit with the company’s new development strategy.
“Konami has made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio, effective immediately, due to the product development resources being restructured into a more centralised unit.”
The studio had also worked on Metal Gear Online, its online mode and the PC version is expected in January, 2016.
Reports are rife that the studio wants to work on more Metal Gear titles and will require huge investments when the title goes into production.The recent release Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain cost over $80 million to develop and saw a humongous opening day revenue of $179 million.
“When we start development, a large-scale investment will become necessary,” a Konami representative is quoted according to a recent Nikkei article.
The future of Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima too is hazy as the report also mentioned that it is unclear whether the designer will be part of the upcoming game or not and is ‘apparently on vacation’.
The Los Angeles studio opened in 2013, intended to expand Konami’s global presence and bring in Western talent to collaborate with Kojima Productions’ Tokyo headquarters. All the 35 people from the studio have been laid off.