Hideo Kojima

Hideo Kojima
Kojima at the 2010 Japan Expo
Native name	小島 秀夫
Born	(1963-08-24) August 24, 1963 (age 53) Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Video game designer, writer, director, producer
Years active	1986–present
Notable work	Metal Gear series Snatcher Policenauts Zone of the Enders series
Awards	AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2016)

Hideo Kojima (小島 秀夫, Kojima Hideo^?, born August 24, 1963) is a Japanese video game designer, screenwriter, director, and producer who is regarded for his auteur approach to video games. He is the director of Kojima Productions, which he founded in 2005, and a former vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment.

Kojima is the creator, director and writer of a number of video games, including the Metal Gear series of stealth games, as well as the adventure games Snatcher and Policenauts. He also directed or produced games in other series, including Zone of the Enders, Boktai, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Kojima was born in Tokyo, Japan and moved to western Japan at the age of three. He said that early on in his life he already had to deal with death, with his father passing away when he was only 13.

When he was young, the Kojima family moved to a small city called Shirasaki. Just as quickly, his family soon moved to Kawanishi, Hyōgo in the Kansai region. Kojima has noted that growing up he was a latchkey kid, often having to look after himself when he came home from school. Staying at home by himself in isolation still affects him to this day stating, "[whenever] I travel and stay at a hotel I put the TV on as soon as I enter the room, just to deal with the feeling of loneliness."