It’s official! The mastermind behind the Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima, has finally left Konami on December 15. The news comes from Japan’s Nikkei, who’s also reporting that Kojima is forming a new studio and is already in talks with Sony Computer Entertainment. Wow!

This messy break up has been the talk of the industry for most of the year, so it’s good receive some closure to this toxic relationship. It’s been particularly rough on Konami, because the company is now one of the least liked in the gaming industry. All the stories that have unraveled about the company treating its employees poorly, as well as how they didn’t allow Kojima to attend the Video Game Awards a couple of weeks aback, have turned this once beloved company into a villain.

It may not matter if Konami is really planning on leaving the AAA game space like so many have speculated, which they have of course refuted. But, the developer/publisher has refuted so many stories that have been true, it’s hard to take corporation’s word for it.

As for Kojima, I predict this legend will do just fine outside of Konami’s walls. He will literally receive a blank check from any of the major publishers to work on a game for them. It makes sense that he’s talking to Sony, since the Metal Gear Solid series is synonymous with PlayStation, even with several installments of the franchise making an appearance on both Nintendo and Microsoft game consoles. But, let me be clear, this is huge if Sony can somehow snag an exclusive deal for Kojima’s next game. It would be even bigger if the new studio joins PlayStation’s already impressive stable of first-party developers.

Surely, Microsoft and Nintendo are both trying to get in on this right now. Let the speculation begin.

Neither side has yet to comment on this report, so we will keep you guys updated. What do you guys think about this news? Are you excited for Kojima’s future? Let us know in the comments below.

HT: Polygon