‘No one ever told me’: Kojima says if he’d known the Wachowskis wanted him to make a Matrix game, it could have happened
It was claimed this week that Konami shot down the request right away
Hideo Kojima says nobody ever told him that Konami shot down a request by the Wachowskis to have him make a Matrix video game.
Earlier this week Konami‘s former vice president of licensing Christopher Bergstresser claimed that Konami’s Kazumi Kitaue – who would go on to become CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment a few years later – immediately denied a request to have Kojima make a Matrix game when the Wachowskis visited the company at the time of the first movie’s Japanese premiere.
“The two of them came in with their concept artist, and effectively they said to Kojima: ‘We really want you to do the Matrix game. Can you do that?’” Bergstresser recalled to Time Extension.
“Aki translated this into Japanese for Mr Kitaue, and Kitaue just looked at them and told them plainly: ‘No.’ We did still get to enjoy the Matrix Japanese premiere and afterparty, though.”
Now Kojima has responded to the story, posting on his X account that while the meeting with Kitaue did take place, Kojima didn’t arrive at Konami’s HQ until it had already ended, meaning he wasn’t aware of such a request.
“I was surprised to see on social media that the Wachowski sisters had ‘offered me a Matrix game project’ back in 1999,” Kojima wrote. “In all these 26 years, no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place.
“At the time, we were mutual fans and exchanged emails. The Matrix hadn’t been released in Japan yet, but I had already seen it in theaters in the US and at a preview screening. When the Wachowskis came to Japan for promotion, I believe I met them three times.
I was surprised to see on social media that the Wachowski sisters had “offered me a Matrix game project!” back in 1999. In all these 26 years, no one ever told me such a conversation had taken place. At the time, we were mutual fans and exchanged emails. The Matrix hadn’t been… pic.twitter.com/4P10P9eEfT
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 29, 2025
“In the morning, we had a Famitsu interview in Shinjuku – that time, [comic book artist] Geoff Darrow joined us for the talk session. In the afternoon, they were invited to the headquarters of Konami’s CS Division. Back then, I was vice president of KCE Japan, a wholly-owned subsidiary.
“When I arrived at the headquarters, their meeting with Mr Kitaue, the head of the CS Division, had just ended. I joined them afterward, and we chatted for about an hour without an interpreter (Aki wasn’t even there). I think John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor, was also present. That evening, I attended the premiere screening and party, where I also met Joel Silver. Even then, there was no mention of an offer.”
Kojima says that if he’d known an offer had been made, he might have been able to work on a game with the Wachowskis despite his other responsibilities at the time.
“At that time, I was already extremely busy with Metal Gear Solid 2 and probably couldn’t have accepted the offer right away,” he wrote. “But if someone had told me, maybe there could’ve been a way to make it work.”
