Hideo Kojima Denies Knowing Anything About A Matrix Video Game Pitch

Hideo Kojima has responded to reports that The Matrix’s creators, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, once pitched a game idea to Konami while he worked there. On his X account, Kojima posted that he was unaware that the conversation had taken place, and he was surprised to read stories suggesting that they wanted him to work on a Matrix video game adaptation.

“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.”

Kojima explained that there was no mention of an offer to develop a Matrix video game, and back then, he was busy working on Metal Gear Solid 2. “If someone had told me, maybe there could’ve been a way to make it work,” Kojima added. In the original interview on Time Extension, Bergstresser recalled a meeting with the Wachowskis and former CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment, Kazumi Kitaue, but Kojima says he wasn’t present for it, and he arrived back at Konami headquarters after the discussion had wrapped up.

Kojima and the Wachowskis eventually met up and discussed the similarities between their work, but with the entire story taking place over 25 years ago, some details might have been lost to time here. Several video games based on The Matrix would eventually be developed, and in 2021, Epic released an Unreal Engine 5 tech demo set in that cyberpunk world.

As for the film franchise, a fifth Matrix movie is currently in development, but the Wachowskis won’t be directing it. The Martian screenwriter Drew Goddard is working on the script and will direct the film, but it’s unclear if series regulars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, or any of the new characters introduced in 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections will return for this installment.