Of every major figure in the gaming industry, Hideo Kojima is arguably one of the most renowned for his quirky games and branded ability to shroud his games in ambiguity. This had long been the case with Death Stranding. However, Kojima's popularity as a figure in the gaming industry and presence on social media has officially granted him the award for the most social media followers for any game director.
Hideo Kojima has maintained a very strong presence on his social media accounts, voicing his opinion on a variety of topics, posting pictures with other gaming industry figures and celebrities, and frequently retweeting posts from fans about his games. Recently, his development studio, Kojima Productions, took to Twitter to post a picture of Kojima winning the Guinness World Record for the most followers of any video game director on Twitter and Instagram.
Below, Kojima can be seen holding up the awards one for holding both records:
"Hideo Kojima receives the Guinness World Records, for the most followed Game director on Twitter and Instagram!" the post is captioned.
Currently, Kojima's English Twitter account has 2.8 million Twitter followers while his Japanese Twitter account has 814,000 Twitter followers. Additionally, Kojima's Instagram account has 926,000 followers.
The specificity of the awards is a bit comical, granting an award to a game director and not a gaming industry figure altogether. However, it's still somewhat impressive given the presence of other game directors in the gaming industry. For example, Shigeru Miyamoto is a very popular director, having popularized the home console with Nintendo Entertainment System. However, Kojima simply has a stronger social media presence than Miyamoto or, apparently, any other video game director.
This does make one ponder what other awards there could be for gaming industry figures. Perhaps there could be one for gaming voice actor with the most Twitter followers...
In any regard, Kojima's popularity as an industry figure doesn't seem to be losing any of its momentum and the respect fans and others in the game industry have for him seem to be what is behind most of the success of his games. His works are certainly profound and often ahead of the curve, but with the Kojima name attached to them, they suddenly garner far more intrigue.