Hideo Kojima

Hideo Kojima (小島 秀夫, Kojima Hideo; born August 24, 1963) is a Japanese video game designer, writer, director, producer, and internet personality. He is known for the Metal Gear franchise, which remains his most famous and acclaimed work, as well as Death Stranding and its sequel. His games are noted for being highly cinematic, the result of a passion for film and literature which began during his childhood, and he is regarded as a pioneering auteur of video games.

Upon joining Konami in 1986, Kojima directed, designed, and wrote Metal Gear (1987) for the MSX2. The game laid the foundation for the stealth game genre and the renowned Metal Gear franchise, which he continued to direct for 28 years up to the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015). During his time at Konami, he created the Boktai series as well as producing the Zone of the Enders series and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. He also designed and wrote Snatcher (1988) and Policenauts (1994), which were graphic adventure games that came to be regarded for their cinematic presentation.

Kojima founded Kojima Productions within Konami in 2005, and in 2011 he was appointed vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment. In 2014, Kojima was revealed as the director for Silent Hills, the next installment in the Silent Hill franchise, via the playable teaser P.T. which received critical acclaim and is considered as one of the greatest horror games of all time. However, the game was canceled by Konami in 2015, shortly before Kojima's departure from the company. He re-established Kojima Productions as an independent studio in December 2015 and released his first games outside Konami with Death Stranding (2019) and its sequel Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (2025), both of which were received favorably.