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Konami Sucks Way More Than We Thought

Konami Sucks Way More Than We Thought

I’m not sure how much Konami pays attention to the gaming press, but it acts like it’s oblivious to its own reputation or doesn’t even care. Some might say there’s no such thing as bad press, but the stories circulating the Internet currently have spilled some details about Konami’s awful corporate culture, and its poor decisions and practices have us concerned. So we have to ask: Is Konami’s actions toxic for the gaming industry?

I remember when Jim Sterling claimed to have been blacklisted by Konami for criticizing it. Sterling claims to criticize companies and games more passionately if he has a love or respect for them, but Konami was more interested in controlling the critic’s message from spreading than it was in considering the criticism. More recently, they tried to take down a video by Super Bunnyhop called Kojima vs Konami: an Investigation , which is about an anonymous source’s report of the behind-the-scenes conflict between Hideo Kojima and President Kagemasa Kozuki. In retaliation, Konami issued a takedown notice; however, YouTube claimed Konami didn’t provide enough evidence for copyright infringement, so it reuploaded the video. Konami’s attempt to control the media is concerning, but not as much as how it reportedly treats its employees.

Kotaku recently summarized a report by Japanese newspaper Nikkei that details the oppressive working conditions that Konami’s employees suffer – and I don’t mean to use the word “oppressive” lightly. Apart from eschewing Kojima’s name from Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain , Konami has a history of monitoring employees’ lunches and shaming anyone who is late, forcing employees not involved in PR to change email addresses every month, shaming game developers they deem useless by demoting them to positions such as security guards, and even punishing employees for liking a former coworker’s Facebook status update about accepting a new job. It even renamed Kojima Productions to Number 8 Production Department, stripping the name of any personality. I sympathize with Konami’s employees for continuing to work in what sounds like an Orwellian environment.

The ideal creative environment, according to John Cleese of Monty Python fame, is one in which there is no pressure or deadlines. Creativity is like a tortoise, and a tortoise retreats into its shell when it is stressed. Konami’s work environment is the exact opposite, and it affects both its creative teams and its passionate fans. Once the publisher had an aquifer of creativity with seemingly little sign of drying out; however, since then Konami has handed over the reigns to beloved classics like Castlevania and Silent Hill to new developers, who have since tarnished both series’ reputations with mediocre-to-bad games. It’s no wonder fans are excited for Koji Igarashi’s spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , as it looks like a project born from passion and not out of a desperate attempt to keep up with the trends.

Konami Sucks Way More Than We Thought

And so we gamers find ourselves once again, as we pointed out two weeks ago , in a moral quandary. Do we buy Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , even after learning how controlling Konami is, or do we boycott them to protest their actions? I don’t think boycotting The Phantom Pain will work; I assume most consumers won’t follow through on the boycott or even care enough to participate. Still, perhaps it’s time we sent a message to Konami, even if the company is too busy focusing on its health clubs and mobile games to care.

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