Hideo Kojima Put All His Ideas Onto a USB Drive and Gave It to His Assistant Just in Case He Dies

If there's one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that Hideo Kojima doesn’t think like most creators. His mind never stops spiraling with ideas.

But even the most forward-thinking artist eventually comes face to face with time, and Kojima’s been thinking about that a lot lately.

In an interview with Edge magazine, the Death Stranding 2 director revealed something surprisingly vulnerable and, in classic Kojima fashion, a bit cinematic: he’s handed off a USB stick filled with “all my ideas” to his personal assistant. Why? As he puts it: “kind of like a will.”

“I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant – kind of like a will. Perhaps they could continue to make things after I'm gone, here at Kojima Productions…

“This is a fear for me – what happens to Kojima Productions after I'm gone. I don't want them to just manage our existing IP.”

Damn! Kojima, now 60, says the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to reevaluate his own mortality.

“Until then, I didn't think I was old, you know? I just didn't feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live.”

That illusion was shattered when he fell seriously ill.

"But then I became sick, and I couldn't create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death.

“Of course, I recovered, but now I was thinking, 'Wait, how many years do I have left to make a game or a film?' Perhaps I would have ten years?"

It’s a sobering admission from someone often viewed as a creative machine, endlessly imaginative, seemingly unstoppable. But beneath the high-concept visual designs and layered storytelling, Kojima’s still a human being, one who knows that even the most influential legacies can fade if not protected.

Despite the uncertainty, he’s made one thing crystal clear: he doesn’t plan on stopping.

“I want to continue ‘creating things’ for the rest of my life.”

Whether that’s ten more years or twenty, it’s safe to say Kojima will spend them trying to surprise, confuse, and inspire us. And when he’s no longer around…. well, there’s a USB stick waiting to do the job.

Via: GamesRadar+