We should thank our lucky stars that Hideo Kojima was able to make Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain the game that it is. Kojima apparently created this game under conditions that are even more adverse than the gaming community realized.

According to Geoff Keighley, who was interviewed by Glixel, the situation that Kojima found himself during his final six months was toxic.

“I haven’t talked much about that, but it was such a difficult time because he was going through a lot last year,” Keighley says. He was shocked when he found out – just days before the show – that Konami wasn’t going to allow Kojima to attend, and he felt he had to say something, despite the company being a sponsor. “The fact that he finished that game under those circumstances is just amazing. He was locked in a separate room on a different floor than his development team for the final six months of development. He couldn’t even talk to them – he had to talk through someone else. That’s how that game was finished.”

It truly is amazing that this game was as good as it, being that it was completed under such conditions. In the past, I thought that Hideo Kojima was overrated as a game maker. I don’t feel like that anymore.

Now, just imagine what he’s going to be able to accomplish with Death Stranding under optimum conditions.