One of gaming’s biggest what-ifs just got confirmed. The Wachowskis, creators and directors of The Matrix, personally met with Hideo Kojima in 1999 to ask him to make a video game based on their groundbreaking sci-fi film. Kojima was interested. His team was excited. But when the pitch reached Konami executive Kazumi Kitaue, he responded with a single word – no.
This revelation comes from Christopher Bergstresser, former vice president of licensing at Konami Digital Entertainment, in a recent interview with Time Extension. The story confirms decades of rumors that Kojima was once in the running to create a Matrix game, providing specific details about what happened during that fateful meeting at Konami headquarters in Tokyo.
The Meeting That Never Should Have Ended
Bergstresser recalled that the Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima’s work, particularly Metal Gear Solid which had released on PlayStation in 1998 to massive critical acclaim. The filmmakers arranged a meeting at Konami’s Tokyo headquarters, bringing along concept artist Geoff Darrow, who had worked extensively on The Matrix’s visual design.
Present at the meeting were Kojima, Kitaue, Aki Saito who still works with Kojima as head of communications at Kojima Productions, and Bergstresser himself. The pitch was straightforward. According to Bergstresser, the Wachowskis came in and essentially said to Kojima – we really want you to do the Matrix game, can you do that?
Saito translated the request into Japanese for Kitaue, who was then a supervisor and executive producer at Konami. Kitaue’s response was immediate and blunt. He looked at them and told them plainly – no. That was it. The meeting effectively ended right there, though Kojima and the others did at least get to attend The Matrix’s Japanese premiere and afterparty as consolation.
Why Konami Said No
The timing explains everything. In late 1999, Kojima and his team at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan were in the very early stages of developing Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty for the PlayStation 2. Development had just begun that year, with the team receiving PS2 development kits in late 1999 and spending six weeks experimenting with the hardware.
Konami wanted Kojima laser-focused on Metal Gear Solid 2, which was expected to be one of the biggest games for Sony’s next-generation console. The first Metal Gear Solid had sold over six million copies and revitalized the stealth action genre. A sequel was guaranteed to print money. Letting Kojima get distracted with a Matrix game, no matter how cool the concept, was unthinkable from a business perspective.
Kojima Had Strong Interest
Multiple sources have indicated that Kojima himself expressed strong interest in the Matrix project. Another former Konami employee told Time Extension that members of Kojima’s development team were immensely disappointed to miss out on the opportunity. This makes sense given Kojima’s well-documented love of cinema and philosophy, both central to The Matrix’s appeal.
Kojima later noted that Metal Gear Solid 2 shared some similarities with The Matrix, including characters running on walls and similar thematic concerns about reality, identity, and control. You can see traces of what a Kojima Matrix game might have looked like scattered throughout MGS2’s DNA – the philosophical questioning of perception, the acrobatic combat, the cinematic presentation. It’s tantalizing to imagine what he could have done with the license itself.
What We Got Instead
The Matrix video game license eventually went to Shiny Entertainment, which developed Enter the Matrix in 2003. Released alongside The Matrix Reloaded, the game featured over an hour of original footage written and directed by the Wachowskis and starred cast members from the films including Jada Pinkett Smith and Anthony Wong.
Players controlled Ghost and Niobe, supporting characters from the films, through a third-person action adventure with driving sequences and one-on-one martial arts combat. The game included bullet time mechanics called Focus that slowed down time for acrobatic gunplay and bullet dodging. Despite mixed reviews citing bugs and repetitive gameplay, Enter the Matrix sold five million copies by May 2004.
Shiny Entertainment followed up with The Matrix The Path of Neo in 2005, which let players control Neo himself through events from all three films. Both games had moments of brilliance but neither captured the cultural impact of the films or achieved the critical acclaim of Kojima’s Metal Gear series. They felt like movie tie-ins rather than essential experiences in their own right.
The Kojima Konami Relationship
This Matrix rejection represents an early example of creative tension between Kojima and Konami management that would eventually lead to their 2015 divorce. While the Matrix decision made business sense in 1999, it established a pattern where Konami executives prioritized safe commercial bets over artistic experimentation.
That relationship deteriorated dramatically by the mid-2010s. During the development of Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain, Konami restructured aggressively under new CEO Hideki Hayakawa, canceling Silent Hills, removing the Kojima Productions logo from all promotional materials, and allegedly isolating Kojima from his team during the final stages of production.
Konami barred Kojima from attending The Game Awards 2015 to accept awards for his work on Metal Gear Solid V, prompting host Geoff Keighley to publicly explain why Kojima wasn’t there and earning deafening jeers from the audience. Kojima left Konami in October 2015 and founded the independent Kojima Productions, which has since released Death Stranding and is currently developing Death Stranding 2 and several other projects.
What Could Have Been
Imagining a Kojima-directed Matrix game in the early 2000s is almost painful. Kojima’s strengths align perfectly with The Matrix’s themes. His games consistently explore questions about reality, control, information warfare, and the nature of identity. Metal Gear Solid 2 famously subverted player expectations by switching protagonists and questioning whether anything in the game world was real.
The Matrix deals with identical concepts – questioning the nature of reality, breaking free from systems of control, and discovering uncomfortable truths about existence. Kojima’s cinematic presentation style would have been perfect for adapting the Wachowskis’ vision. His attention to detail in gameplay mechanics could have created something genuinely innovative rather than another third-person action game with bullet time.
We might have gotten a Matrix game that stood alongside the films as essential science fiction rather than a competent but forgettable movie tie-in. We might have seen Kojima experiment with concepts he would later explore in Metal Gear Solid 2 and beyond in a different context. We might have gotten one of gaming’s truly great adaptations instead of what-might-have-been stories.
The Timing Was Perfect
The Matrix released in US theaters in March 1999 and became an instant cultural phenomenon. It grossed over 460 million dollars worldwide and won four Academy Awards. The film’s innovative bullet time effects, wire-fu martial arts, and cyberpunk aesthetics influenced action cinema for the next decade.
Metal Gear Solid had just proven that cinematic storytelling could work in video games. Kojima was at the peak of his creative powers and his industry reputation. PlayStation 2 was about to launch with vastly superior hardware capabilities. The Wachowskis were involved and interested in collaborating directly. All the pieces were in place for something special.
But Konami executive Kitaue killed it with a single word. No explanation, no negotiation, just no. The meeting ended, the opportunity passed, and gaming history took a different path.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Wachowskis approach Kojima?
The meeting took place in 1999 at Konami headquarters in Tokyo, shortly after The Matrix’s theatrical release in March 1999 and around the time of its Japanese premiere. Kojima was in the early stages of developing Metal Gear Solid 2 at the time.
Why did Konami reject the Matrix game?
Konami executive Kazumi Kitaue wanted Kojima focused entirely on Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty for PlayStation 2. The sequel to the massively successful Metal Gear Solid was a guaranteed commercial hit, and Konami didn’t want Kojima distracted by other projects.
Did Kojima want to make a Matrix game?
Yes, sources indicate Kojima had strong interest in the project and members of his development team were immensely disappointed when Konami rejected the opportunity. Kojima later noted that Metal Gear Solid 2 shared some similarities with The Matrix, including wall-running mechanics.
Who made the Matrix games instead?
Shiny Entertainment developed Enter the Matrix released in 2003 and The Matrix The Path of Neo in 2005. Both games featured involvement from the Wachowskis but received mixed reviews and never achieved the critical acclaim of Kojima’s work.
What happened between Kojima and Konami?
The relationship deteriorated over time, culminating in a messy 2015 divorce. Konami removed Kojima’s name from Metal Gear Solid V promotional materials, allegedly isolated him during development, and barred him from attending The Game Awards. He left Konami in October 2015 and founded the independent Kojima Productions.
Could Kojima still make a Matrix game?
Theoretically yes, though it would require Warner Bros who owns the Matrix IP to approach him. Kojima now runs an independent studio and has creative freedom to pursue projects that interest him. However, no current plans for a Matrix collaboration exist.
Was Kojima the only developer considered for Matrix games?
A December 1999 edition of NextGen magazine mentioned Kojima was in the running, but details about other developers considered remain unclear. The Wachowskis specifically sought out Kojima because they were big fans of his work on Metal Gear Solid.
How successful was Enter the Matrix?
Despite mixed critical reviews citing bugs and repetitive gameplay, Enter the Matrix sold five million copies by May 2004. It was commercially successful but never achieved the cultural impact or critical acclaim a Kojima version might have earned.
A Sliding Doors Moment
This Matrix rejection represents one of gaming’s great sliding doors moments. If Kitaue had said yes instead of no, we might be living in a timeline where Kojima made one of the greatest movie adaptations in gaming history. Metal Gear Solid 2 might have been delayed or different. The Matrix games might be remembered as essential experiences rather than footnotes.
But Konami chose the safe path, the commercial path, the path that kept their star developer focused on their biggest franchise. From a business perspective in 1999, it made perfect sense. In hindsight, knowing what Kojima would eventually achieve with creative freedom and what the actual Matrix games turned out to be, that single word no feels like a tragedy.
The story also highlights how much influence individual executives have over gaming history. One person’s decision in one meeting changed the trajectory of multiple franchises, studios, and careers. We’ll never know what Kojima’s Matrix game might have been, but based on everything he’s created since, it’s safe to assume it would have been something special. Instead, we’re left with what-ifs and the knowledge that the Wachowskis and Kojima were fans of each other’s work but never got the chance to collaborate.
At least they got to attend that premiere afterparty together. Small consolation for what could have been one of the most exciting collaborations in entertainment history.