Tencent has confirmed the hiring of Kojima Productions veteran Imaizumi

Metal Gear producer joins gaming giant as production director; Halo 4 lead also hired

Chinese corporation Tencent has confirmed the hiring of Kojima Productions founding member Ken-Ichiro Imaizumi, along with Halo 4 lead designer Scott Warner.

A spokesperson for Tencent confirmed the news to South China Morning Post and said that Imaizumi had joined as production director of Tencent Games.

VGC first revealed the Metal Gear Solid veteran’s departure from Kojima Productions in November last year.

The producer worked on every Metal Gear Solid title since 2001’s Sons of Liberty, and more recently as corporate director oversaw all production on Death Stranding.

Meanwhile, Halo 4 lead Scott Warner will head Tencent’s TiMi Studios in North America. TiMi’s Shenzhen HQ is behind popular mobile games Honour of Kings and Call of Duty Mobile.

The high-profile hires come as Tencent, the largest gaming company in the world by revenue, seeks to expand its audiences abroad, according to the Morning Post.

Tencent is said to be facing slowing growth in its home market and regulatory pressure from Chinese authorities, which have previously withheld approvals for new games.

Tencent is Asia’s second-biggest company by market value ($490bn) and has invested in more than 800 companies.

As well as owning League of Legends maker Riot Games, it has a 40% stake in Epic Games and holds shares in Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft and PUBG Corporation parent company Bluehole, among others.

In November 2019 it acquired a 10% stake in Sumo Group, the parent company of Team Sonic Racing studio Sumo Digital, while Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames said this year it had received investment from Tencent which will see it remain independent while allowing it to explore self-publishing.