Watch Kojima receive his Industry Icon Award at The Game Awards 2016

During The Game Awards 2016 Hideo Kojima has received the Industry Icon Award. After being blocked from attending last year’s award ceremony by Konami’s lawyers, producer and host Geoff Keighley considered it to be ‘one of the most important things’ to have the famous game designer attend this time.

Geoff Keighley introduced Kojima in a speech in which he talked about what went down last year, and how much it meant for him to give this award to Kojima. “For most of the past year I’ve tried – very unsuccessfully – to give Hideo the award he rightfully won last year for Metal Gear Solid V. […] I first offered to ship it to him, but I couldn’t get the address of his new studio. Then I said ‘I drive this myself out to Las Vegas to personally hand it to him when I saw him in February and he politely declined that. And I soon found out why. He is such a principal person that eventually word came back to me that Hideo just said: Geoff, I can’t have that blood on my hands. He had to move on. And today, Hideo is rebuilding his life and his studio with our support.” Geoff also noted the circumstances under which Kojima had to finish MGSV, locked inside a room with no direct contact with his team. “Like Snake said in MGS, Hideo knows that a strong man doesn’t need to read his future, he makes his own.” Geoff concluded, after which he presented the award to Kojima.