Hideo Kojima

He is the creator and director of a number of successful games, including the *Metal Gear* series, *Snatcher*, *Policenauts* and the *Death Stranding* series. He has also produced both the *Zone of the Enders* and *Boktai* series. Kojima is consistently named by fans and industry experts alike as being one of the most influential and innovative video game directors and writers of all time, as well as being on many all time director top ten lists. Newsweek named Hideo Kojima as one of the top ten people of 2002. In 2008, Next-Gen placed him #7 in their list of "Hot 100 Developer 2008." He was awarded the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award handed to a game designer at the 2008 MTV Game Awards.

He is most well known for his involvement with the *Metal Gear* series. The series is credited for pioneering and popularizing stealth video games and "cinematic video games". Notable traits of the series include cinematic cutscenes, intricate storylines, offbeat and fourth-wall humor, and exploration of cyberpunk, dystopian, political and philosophical themes, as well as references to Hollywood films. He carried forward his signature style of cinematic storytelling well into his latest works.

After his split from Konami, he announced the founding of his own independent studio on December 16, 2015. It was named Kojima Productions and they started work on an independent game titled *Death Stranding*, which was Written, Directed and Produced by Hideo himself. Death Stranding was released on November 8, 2019 and received generally positive reviews while being a commercial success. It also won a number of awards, including "Best Game Direction" and "Best Score/Music" at The Game Awards 2019, and "Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design" and "Outstanding Technical Achievement" at the 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

His upcoming works include *OD* and *Physint*. There is also a live-action feature film adaptation of *Death Stranding* currently being produced by Kojima and the film studio A24, as well as an animated adaptation by the studio Line Mileage written by Aaron Guzikowski, which will feature an original story within *Death Stranding*'s universe.