[Update] Konami Allegedly Denies Kojima Departure, Says Staff On Post-Launch Vacation

Update #2: Konami has reportedly made a statement denying Kojima's departure and claiming it knows nothing about a celebratory send-off detailed in The New Yorker's report. While Konami declined to comment to us (and other Western outlets), it allegedly made a statement to Tokyo Sports.

Kotaku translated the statement, which indicates that Kojima is still listed as an employee and that he and other staff members are taking a vacation after the launch of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and its competitive component, Metal Gear Online. In response, Simon Parkin, who authored The New Yorker's story, tweeted a picture of a staff gathering.

Here is a photograph of Kojima's farewell party on October 9th at Konami, which Konami claims no knowledge of: pic.twitter.com/xgRUoYs5qt

— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) October 20, 2015

The other piece of this story, the alleged $197 million in first day revenue and related $80 million budget, are still unclear. We reached out to multiple individuals at Adobe Digital Index for clarification on the genesis of those numbers, as the sourcing and methodology for the presentation in which they were presented is unclear. Based on a slide detailing process (below), it appears that Adobe extrapolated social media impressions into revenue. We'll update should we learn more about the specifics of those calculations.

Update (October 19 at 4:42 p.m. Central): Konami has declined to comment or issue a statement on any of our inquiries.

Original Story (October 19 at 4:07 p.m.):

A new report today indicates that the long-rumored departure of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima from Konami has happened. According to new information, Kojima’s last day was allegedly October 9.

The New Yorker reports that a ceremony was held on that day with approximately 100 guests. The publication also reports that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain saw revenue of $179 million at launch on September 1, though that statistic does not appear to be official or directly from Konami.

We’ve reached out to Konami to find out if the publisher is confirming Kojima’s departure. We’ve also requested clarification and confirmation of the launch day revenue and the report that Kojima has a non-compete clause through December. We’ll update should we receive a response.

Tension has been in the air between Kojima and Konami since March 2015, when Kojima’s name disappeared from Metal Gear box art. Following that, Konami canceled the Metal Gear creator’s partnership with Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro for a new entry in the Silent Hill series.

You can read our recap of those events in a feature published earlier this year.

[Source: The New Yorker]

Our Take
The New Yorker’s details seem very specific, but I’m drawn to the $179 million revenue number (and, related, the alleged $80 million budget for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain). That number seems to originate from an Adobe Digital Index report, though the only one with that complete picture would be Konami. We’ve inquired with Adobe about how it arrived at the revenue and budget data.