I’ve come to enjoy poking fun at the handful of toddlers who currently run Konami. It’s been therapeutic, and more than that, it’s necessary. Companies do bad things all the time, but more often than not the culprit is corporate greed, general human stupidity, or a combination of the two.
Ubisoft releases a multiplayer game that doesn’t work for months after its release. Electronic Arts gives us a sequel to a cult classic that replaces the charm of the original with annoying “freemium” mechanics. Activision refuses to stop being Activision. Microtransactions, season passes, game-breaking bugs, delays, retailer-exclusive pre-order incentives.
This amazing industry has a seemingly endless supply of annoying quirks, and we’re all to blame. The publishers favor a profitable quarter over happy consumers, and we scold them for doing us wrong while we hand over more of our money.
Then there’s Konami.
The same company that gifted us with the Metal Gear, Silent Hill and Castlevania franchises has come undone this year. I will be forever grateful to Konami, which spent much of its decades-long run making some of the bravest and most narratively ambitious games I’ve ever played.
The cancellation of Silent Hills, the removal of the brilliant P.T. demo from the PlayStation Store, the unnecessary closure of Kojima Productions and their continued abuse of Hideo Kojima, who they recently prevented from accepting his own award at The Game Awards 2015.
Konami is a disgrace and they absolutely should be ashamed. They’ve raised the bar for assholery and simultaneously reached a new low. It’s gotten bad enough that the former head of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, had to speak up in this Facebook post (translated by Kotaku).
“As I know Mr. Kojima, I want to say, ‘I can’t believe this cruel treatment!’ But, here I’m going to give my thoughts as a corporate exec.”
“However you think about this, this is a negative for business.”
“Maybe leaving the home console market is management’s plan, but going out of your way to make enemies with the world has no meaning. Generally, this kind of thing happens when there’s a lack of leadership. I think, perhaps, there isn’t someone in charge who is paying attention and laying out all the little details for whole enterprise.”
“When you are not aware that the feelings of your own department aren’t aligned with the world at large, the results can be deplorable.”
