Summary
As unfortunate as it is to ponder over, death is a facet of life. Over the past few years, we’ve seen many key figureheads in gaming, anime, voice acting and more pass away. For instance,in late December, Nihom Falcom founder Masayuki Kato passed away at age 78. Before that,renowned actor, including as the voice of Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Tony Todd, passed away at 69 years old.
At 61 years old,Hideo Kojimais seemingly aware of his own mortality, and, after a confrontation with death itself, has begun devising a life-after-death plan, so his work can live on.
Kojima Is Aware As Anyone That Death Can Happen At Anytime
In a new interview with Edge Magazine, Kojima shared that it wasn’t him turning 60 years old that changed his perspective on life, but rather an illness he suffered during the global pandemic of 2020.
“I fell seriously ill at that time, and also had an eye operation,” Kojima recalled. “Until then, I didn’t think I was old, you know? I just didn’t feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live.”
Putting things further into perspective was the death of those around him, plus the scare that comes with being ill, Kojima revealed. “But then I became sick, and I couldn’t create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death.
“Of course, I recovered, but now I was thinking, ‘Wait, how many years do I have left to make game or a film?’ Perhaps I have ten years?'”
With a new outlook on life, Kojima plans on spending his remaining years putting Kojima Productions into a position where it can succeed even without him present. Part of that includes a USB drive with ideas to run off of when he is long gone.
“I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant, kind of like a will,” Kojima explained. “Perhaps they could continue to make things after I’m gone at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after I’m gone? I don’t want them to just manage our existing IP.”
It’s a rather sobering outlook from one of history’s greatest auteurs being confronted with their own mortality. That Kojima is not only aware of it, but is also actively working toward ways to help creatively overcome it with contingency plans is admirable. May we all learn to confront our own mortality with that level of grace.
