“KojiPro has been and will be an independent studio” - Hideo Kojima on the future after PlayStation Studios banner includes Death Stranding

sportskeeda.com:

Legendary game developer Hideo Kojima has taken to social media to clarify the present as well as the future of his studio, Kojima Productions, after a PlayStation Studios banner featuring Death Stranding was spotted on the official PlayStation website.

Hideo Kojima has worked closely with PlayStation many times, right from the original Metal Gear Solid, which is an iconic game for the PS1 to the recent Death Stranding, which not only launched as a PS4 exclusive game, but was also published by PlayStation.

Quite recently, an updated banner of PS Studios featuring Sam (the protagonist of Death Stranding, played by Norman Reedus) was spotted on their official website. Although it was quickly changed, it swiftly sparked speculation that Kojima Productions would be joining the PS Studios family.

PlayStation, Sony’s gaming division, is arguably the biggest gaming brand in the world. With top-tier developers as well as an industry-leading console family, the brand has truly become synonymous with video games. Currently, the PS Studios family features many top-tier studios, such as Santa Monica Studios, the developers behind the iconic God of War franchise, and Guerrilla Games, the studio behind Killzone and the post-apocalyptic mechanical beast series, Horizon (Zero Dawn and Forbidden West), and Insomniac, whose Ratchet & Clank video game series as well as Marvel’s Spider-Man titles are breakout fan-favorite successes.

PlayStation is known to feature a brand image for all of its first-party developers, where protagonists from the games of various studios are featured side by side. Previously, this image leaked Sony’s acquisition of BluePoint Games with the image featuring The Slayer of Demons. Interestingly, fans recently noticed