The days of the classic Konami franchise might be over, but there are people who worked for the company that joined Hideo Kojima on the Death Stranding project, to the point where over half of the staff had worked with Konami in the past.
Hideo Kojima split from Konami in 2015, turning Kojima Productions into an independent studio. Kojima had worked with Konami since the 80s and created the Metal Gear Solid series for the company. All seemed well between Kojima and Konami up until 2014, as he was supposed to be working on Silent Hills for the company. It was revealed in 2015 that the two had split. Kojima Productions entered a partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment to produce Death Stranding, which was recently released for PlayStation 4.
There are people who have already finished Death Stranding and it has been discovered in its credits sequence that over half of the staff who worked on the game had previously worked for Konami in some capacity. According to Video Games Chronicle, 67 of the 120 core developers of Death Stranding had previously worked for Konami Studio, with 62 of them working on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
The departure of Hideo Kojima from Konami was seen by many as the beginning of the end for Konami's video game outings, as the company seemed more interested in shilling its old franchises for gambling properties. The fact that so many people jumped ship alongside Hideo Kojima shows how many assets Konami was willing to throw away in its seeming indifference towards its video game division. The exact reason for Kojima's departure from Konami is still unknown, but it seems that he wasn't alone in his problems with the company.
The sales figures for Death Stranding are still unknown and it's possible that the game could tank Kojima Productions if it fails to meet expectations. If it succeeds, then the spirit of the studio that once produced the Metal Gear Solid series will live on in the people who have remained by Kojima's side.
Death Stranding is available now for PlayStation 4 and will be coming to PC in 2020.
Source: Video Games Chronicle