The long term relationship between Konami and Hideo Kojima seems to be at an impasse.
Hideo Kojima, Konami Allegedly Due to Split Soon
A inside source allegedly connected to Konami has said that power struggles between Metal Gear producer Hideo Kojima and the publisher will lead to Kojima's exit from the company next year after work on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
GameSpot reported the allegations early this morning, citing that senior staff members at Kojima Productions are now being switched from long term employees to contractors. As a result of the fallout, Konami is also said to be restricting Kojima's opportunities to promote the game. Once their contracts are out in December, it seems that the studio will be disbanded and Kojima will move on from the game company.
All promotional material for Metal Gear Solid V in recent weeks have had the Kojima Productions logo removed, and the branding on social media has been removed as well. In a statement, Konami has said that "Konami Digital Entertainment, including Mr. Kojima, will continue to develop and support Metal Gear products. Please look forward to future announcements."
While Metal Gear hasn't primarily been on Nintendo systems, a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake was released several years ago for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as Solid Snake appearing as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Our Take: "This is kind of stunning. I'm assuming Konami has the rights to keep making Metal Gear and other Kojima Production games if a fallout is imminent, but I'm not really sure what they have without Kojima." - Bryan Rose
"It seems like all of Konami's main talent is leaving between Igarashi, Tak Fuji, the Love Plus devs and now Kojima. Does Konami have anything left on console besides Pro Evo?" - Donald Theriault
Free DLC Coming to Etrian Mystery Dungeon
Free DLC is on the way for Etrian Mystery Dungeon fans when they buy their copies on April 7.
For the next month following the release, there will be five different free downloadable quests for adventurers to discover. They include finding wanderers, a Princess, and a Landsknecht. There is also a quest that has you looking for a Red Pooka as well as defeating the Gold Guardian.
A paid theme will also be released a week before the game is due out, on March 31.
Our Take: "Nice to see that many 3DS developers are releasing free DLC for their games. Everyone wins!" - Bryan Rose
A-Train: City Simulator Due in April
For those looking for a city building simulator, good news! A-Train: City Simulator will be out in North America this April.
Developed by ArtDink, and published by Natsume, the game has you creating buildings in order to support transport services such as bus routes and subways. The game has you needing to balance citizen's needs as well as maintaining a budget. It will be released on the Nintendo 3DS.
Our Take: "I'm always up for a new city simulator. Can't be as bad as SimCity. Actually, that would require effort to be as bad as SimCity." - Bryan Rose
- An interesting site has popped up in recent weeks, with allegedly all evidence pointing to developer Aksys developing a third Zero Escape game.