News

Yoichi Wada (former president of Square Enix) comments on Konami’s treatment of Kojima

Yoichi Wada, former president and representative director of Square Enix, commented on the Kojima – Konami situation (and specifically Kojima’s absence from the Game Awards) on Facebook (translated by Kotaku). He doesn’t see how Konami could benefit from handling business like this.

As I know Mr. Kojima, I want to say, ‘I can’t believe this cruel treatment!’ But, here I’m going to give my thoughts as a corporate exec. However you think about this, this is a negative for business.

Maybe leaving the home console market is management’s plan, but going out of your way to make enemies with the world has no meaning. Generally, this kind of thing happens when there’s a lack of leadership. I think, perhaps, there isn’t someone in charge who is paying attention and laying out all the little details for whole enterprise.

When you are not aware that the feelings of your own department aren’t aligned with the world at large, the results can be deplorable.

Kojima-Meeting-with-Wada-and-Julien

Yoichi Wada and Hideo Kojima during a meeting in 2013

During last week’s Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley made it clear that Kojima was prohibited from attending the show by one of Konami’s lawyers. Obviously this hasn’t been too good for the company’s reputation, and it’s hard to imagine what they think to gain from all this. Kojima’s still under contract, but maybe we will hear more when that officially ends.

Source: Yoichi Wada Facebook, Kotaku

Follow Us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter