Hideo Kojima Is "Afraid" Of Political Climate In America

Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid series and the upcoming Death Stranding, says he's both "interested" and "afraid" of politics in America right now.

In an interview with Glixel, Kojima was asked about the current political climate, and whether it troubles him. He responded by saying, "It's important to talk about the world we're in now, so you can show your children what kind of world awaits you, or what kind of world we should make."

He continued: "I'm definitely interested in what's happening in politics now, especially in America. With politics moving to the right, I'm afraid of this kind of movement in America."

Elsewhere in the interview, Kojima said he never wants to stop making games. "I want to continue to work and create games until I die," he said. "I don't want to leave work and spend the rest of my life fishing. I want to be there on the front lines with the young blood until I die.

"However, as you stated, I've been working very hard for 30 years, so in the back of my mind I had an inkling to take a break. Actually, my family was telling me I should take a break, but when I talked to my friends around the world, they said 'You don't have time! People are waiting to know what your next game will be,' so I decided to continue along that road of making a triple-A experience for all the people who are waiting for it. I did think about taking a break, and maybe make a short movie, but ultimately I decided to make a game."

The former Metal Gear director did say he wants to make a film one day, however. "I love movies, so at some point in time I would love to make a movie.

"If I were to film a movie, it would focus on the things a movie can do best, and it would be very different from my games. I had many offers and conversations of that sort with Hollywood, but right now we're creating Death Stranding so it's right to focus solely on that."

After leaving his previous employer Konami in 2015, Kojima founded his new development studio, Kojima Productions, as an independent company. The studio is partnering with Sony for its first project, Death Stranding.

In splitting from Konami, Kojima left behind both Metal Gear and the now-canceled Silent Hills project. The director has previously spoken about leaving Konami and his memories of his time developing Metal Gear Solid whilst there. Read his thoughts in our in-depth interview here.