Back in November 2019, an article published by Video Games Chronicle claimed that Kojima Productions producer and founding member Kenichiro Imaizumi left the studio following a disagreement with other executives. While reports of internal conflict couldn’t be verified, it appears that Imaizumi did indeed leave the company and has now joined Chinese giant, Tencent.
According to VGC, Imaizumi has joined Tencent’s European arm based in Amsterdam. His role involves pursuing investment opportunities and expanding the company’s WeChat messaging service. Imaizumi and Kojima worked together for nearly two decades prior to his departure. Imaizumi is a Metal Gear Solid veteran and managed Death Stranding‘s production.
Neither Imaizumi nor Kojima Productions have responded to requests for comments.
Tencent is a Chinese multinational conglomerate that owns developers like Riot Games and holds stakes in Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Ubisoft, and others. Recently, the company invested in NieR studio, PlatinumGames.
“This partnership has no effect on the independence of our company, and we will continue operations under our current corporate structure,” PlatinumGames said back in January. “We hope to use this capital to strengthen our foundation as a business and expand from game development into exploring self-publishing. We also hope that this partnership can give us a wider global perspective, while still creating high quality games that stay true to our name.”
As of 2020, Tencent has invested in more than 800 companies around the globe. With Imaizumi pursuing investment opportunities in Europe, it looks like Tencent is set to expand further in the near future.
We’ll update our readers when we have more information.
[Source: VGC]
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