Hideo Kojima was ready to cancel Metal Gear Solid 2 and resign after 9/11

gamesradar.com:

Hideo Kojima was on the verge of canceling Metal Gear Solid 2 and resigning from Konami after the events of September 11, 2001.

The end of Metal Gear Solid 2 sees Arsenal Gear - a giant submersible fortress - crash into Manhattan. In-game, the scene simply jumps from the ship speeding across the ocean to it sitting amid several ruined New York buildings. A few behind-the-scenes details released over the years made clear that scenes of Arsenal Gear crashing into the city were removed in the wake of 9/11.

In a recently-translated interview with magazine Weekly Toyo Keizai, Kojima said that "The depiction of [the] game's themes and its numerous similarities with the real-world events on September 11 rendered it unfit for release at the time. After consulting with lawyers, the end result was that the game required revisions in 300 spots. It goes without saying that we were in crisis mode and it was threatening the release and sale of the game."

After the tragic events of 9/11, Metal Gear Solid 2 was in serious danger of not being released, and Kojima at the time thought he would have to step down from the company over it. What you're about to read is an excerpt from an interview Kojima did with Weekly Toyo Keizai.… pic.twitter.com/rYvFzuPpziMay 30, 2023

Kojima said that he was called into a meeting with Konami's board of directors in order to explain the details of MGS2's story to them. "Everone's facial expression had a look of 'this is not good'," Kojima said.

At the time, the director thought "the game shouldn't be released at this period in time. I have no other choice but to take responsibility and resign from the company." Two people changed Kojima's mind. One was then Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken