Kojima Productions brings in former Konami exec as its president
Shinji Hirano was president of Konamis' North American and European offices in 11 years at the company
Kojima Productions has appointed a new president: Shinji Hirano, a seasoned executive at Konami, the company from which Hideo Kojima departed in difficult circumstances.
Hirano was president of Konami's operations in North and South America for six years leading up to December 2011, when he switched to the same leadership role for Konami Europe. Hirano was at the centre of the company's European reorganisation, including the move of its European HQ from Germany to the UK.
He left Konami in March this year, around six months after Hideo Kojima departed in apparently acrimonious circumstances. Hirano's Linkedin profile indicates that he joined Kojima Productions as its president in November, but the change was only noticed by The Koalition recently.
This is a very promising hire for Kojima Productions, adding proven knowledge of the lucrative console markets in Europe and North America at the highest level. Very little is known about the studio's first game, the PlayStation 4 exclusive Death Stranding, but the admirably weird trailers we've seen so far have confirmed the involvement of acting talent like Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen.
