The Wachowskis asked Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to make a Matrix video game, but Konami reportedly turned them down
Blog Andrew Joseph 28 Oct , 2025 0
The Wachowski sisters, the writers and directors of the “Matrix” film series, asked “Metal Gear Solid” creator Hideo Kojima to design a matrix video game, but publisher Konami reportedly turned it down.
This is based on time extensionAlthough the December 1999 edition of NextGen magazine stated that Kojima was apparently in the running for a game based on the blockbuster movie, Konami executive Kasumi Kitaue declined the discussion in favor of letting Kojima focus on the Metal Gear Solid series, the magazine said.
“The Wachowskis are huge fans of Hideo Kojima,” Christopher Bergstresser, Konami's vice president of digital entertainment licensing, told Time Extension. “So Kazumi Kitakami, Hideo Kojima, Aki Saito (who still works with Hideo Kojima) and I were at Konami headquarters, and we got a call from the Wachowskis, and they wanted to come in and meet with Hideo Kojima. So that’s what they did!
“The two of them came in with their concept artist, and they actually said to Kojima, 'We really want you to make a Matrix game. Can you do it?' Aki translated that into Japanese to Mr. Kitakami, who just looked at them and told them flatly, 'No.' “However, we still enjoyed the Japanese premiere of The Matrix and the after-party.”
Interestingly, not everyone recalls events this way. Another former Konami employee who did not wish to go on record claimed that Konami actually showed “serious interest” in the game and that people were “very disappointed” when the project did not proceed.
Despite this, The Matrix series was adapted into a series of games, starting with Shiny Entertainment's input matrix 2003, follow up The Matrix: Path of Neo In 2005, Monolith Production's The Matrix Online same year. In 2021, we also watched a tech demo themed around The Matrix, The Matrix Awakens: Unreal Engine 5 Experiencein which Epic Games showed us what Unreal Engine 5 is capable of.
The results weren't too bad for Hideo Kojima and Konami. After 1998's Metal Gear Solid, Kojima and his team focused on critically acclaimed and award-winning titles Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libertyreleased in 2001.
Of course, the island is just as busy now. With the release of “Death Stranding 2”, Hideo Kojima is working on a series of new projectsincluding horror games Xbox Game Studio OD. he The first trailer was released last monthtriggering speculation It's connected to PT somehow. Of course, there are striking similarities. The mystery game will star Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' Sofia Lillis, Hunter's Udo Kier, and Euphoria's Hunter Schafer, and the trailer shows Lillith's character in a spooky house, lighting candles before encountering a malevolent figure.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist and consultant for IGN with over 15 years of experience working with some of the largest gaming sites and publications in the world. She's also a Guardian, a Spartan, a Silent Hill Warrior, a Legend, and an eternal High Chaos. find her in blue sky.