An updated PlayStation Studios banner has ignited rumours of an acquisition of Kojima Productions by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The updated banner graphic was spotted by a user on the gaming forum Resetera. The user noticed that Sam Porter Bridges from Death Stranding, a Kojima Productions game, had replaced Ash from Concrete Genie.
Naturally, the updated PlayStation Studios banner has set the rumour mill turning at full pelt. The banner is displayed on the PlayStation Studios page of PlayStation.com.
Fans think the banner does not represent the games that are displayed but rather the studios that make them. Thus inferring that Kojima Productions has been, or is soon to be, acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Hideo Kojima and his development company Kojima Productions have had a great relationship with PlayStation. Death Stranding was released as a PS4 exclusive before heading to PC. And Kojima games have always been synonymous with PlayStation. So perhaps an acquisition is not completely unimaginable.
Sony has recently gone on a studio buying spree. Destiny 2 developer Bungie was acquired for over $3 Billion and Sony also recently brought new studio Haven into the PlayStation fold.
Update 15 April 2022
Hideo Kojima has tweeted a mysterious tweet following the acquisition rumours. The tweet is an image showing the updated PlayStation Studios banner with the PlayStation Studios logo. Mysterious indeed, but Kojima could just be trolling.
Never mind, Kojima has clarified that Kojima Productions will remain independent.
Translated from Japanese: “It sounds misleading, but Kojipro has been and will continue to be an independent production studio.”
Source: Resetera
