The Wachowskis Asked Hideo Kojima To Create a ‘Matrix’ Video Game, but Konami Said No

Summary

• The Wachowskis personally approached Hideo Kojima to develop a Matrix game in the late ’90s
• The pitch was rejected by Konami executive Kazumi Kitaue, despite Kojima expressing “strong interest” and disappointing his team
• The unmade project was rumored to involve the Metal Gear Solid team and was eventually created by Shiny Entertainment (Enter the Matrix, Path of Neo)

The world could have experienced a Matrix game from Hideo Kojima in the ‘90s if it wasn’t shut down by Konami.

Christopher Bergstresser, Konami Digital Entertainment’s former vice president of licensing, told Time Extension, “The Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima.” He shared, “So Kazumi Kitaue, Kojima, Aki Saito (who still works with Kojima), and I were at the Konami HQ, and we got a call from the Wachowskis, who wanted to come in and meet with Kojima. So they did!”

Bergstresser continued, “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?’ 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.”

Rumors of Kojima helming the Matrix video game were reported as far back as December 1999. Time Extension further notes that a report from NextGen suggested that Kojima and his Metal Gear Solid team were the frontrunners in developing the title. Kojima’s own Metal Gear Solid 2 development diary also supports Bergstresser’s story, with the director confirming that he met with the Wachowskis and their concept artist, Geoff Darrow, in Shinjuku’s Hyatt Park on August 25, 1999 — the day of the Matrix’s premiere in Japan.

An anonymous Konami employee refuted the claims, however. Kojima supposedly continued to “show strong interest” in a Matrix game after Konami’s disapproval. There was also “immense disappointment” within the team.

Shiny Entertainment went on to develop and release the video games, dropping Enter the Matrix in 2003 and The Path of Neo in 2005.