Kojima Productions LA shut down by Konami

Konami has confirmed that it has shut down Kojima Productions Los Angeles with immediate effect due to "restructuring". The news follows rumours that the American wing of Hideo Kojima's studio was in trouble.

In a letter to Polygon, Konami said: "Konami has made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio, effective immediately, due to the product development resources being restructured into a more centralised unit.

"This facility contributed to the recent Metal Gear Solid games," it continued, before reiterating its intention to release Metal Gear Online on PC next year. "Konami will continue its operations to support all Metal Gear Solid titles, including the recently launched Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Online. Metal Gear Online is still scheduled to release for PC Steam in January 2016."

Kojima Productions LA was renamed Konami Los Angeles earlier this year at the same time Metal Gear creator Kojima's name was stripped from Metal Gear Solid 5's website, box art and promotional material. It is believed that Kojima left Konami in October following a well-publicised rift, but Konami maintains he has gone "on vacation".

"The Los Angeles studio emphasises Konami and Kojima Productions commitment to expanding our development footprint," said Konami's digital entertainment president Tomoyuki Tsuboi when the studio was opened. "The new studio will put Kojima Productions in the heart of the west which will benefit future releases as it will introduce new talent and creativity to the development teams."

Awkward.

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