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Perhaps the most memorable moment of last week's 19th Annual DICE Awards was the one not planned.
Two hours or so into the show, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain won the award for best adventure game. But publisher Konami wasn't around to accept it.
Instead, Jordan Mechner, creator of Prince of Persia; and Kiki Wolfkill, executive producer at 343 Industries, who were presenting the award, accepted it on the company's behalf, to the slightly confused and perhaps embarrassed laughter of the audience.
Why the confusion?
Less than half-an-hour earlier, Hideo Kojima, one of the creators of the Metal Gear franchise and director of the game, was up on the same stage to accept a Hall of Fame award from friend and colleague Guillermo del Toro.
You can see the moment right here.
"Konami was unable to send someone to the awards and Kojima-San preferred not to accept it," Terrence Myers, executive producer, DICE Awards told Polygon. "The Academy thought the solution of having the presenters accept on behalf of the title was best for all parties."
"Konami was unable to send someone to the awards and Kojima-San preferred not to accept it"
Konami has not responded to a request for comment. We will update this story when they do.
That odd moment last week is just the latest in a string of unusual behavior by Konami during the prolonged breakup of the gifted game-maker with the publishing house.
Last December, Kojima wasn't able to attend The Game Awards 2015 because Konami prevented him from going, according to host Geoff Keighley.
In March, Konami removed all mention of Kojima and his studio from the website for Metal Gear Solid. In July, his name was pulled from the game.
But last week's DICE Summit seemed to be a mostly happy affair for Kojima. He sat down with del Toro and Keighley in front of an audience to discuss the creative process in movies and games. On Friday, del Toro introduced him to a packed room at the DICE Awards to be entered into the group's hall of fame. (You can watch that right here.)
Del Toro told the gathering that Kojima is a "standard-bearer for the very best that the medium has to offer."
We spoke with Kojima before his sit down with del Toro and the award to talk about what he has planned for his future.
You can listen to our full interview with Kojima in the bonus second episode of Polygon Newsworthy below. Links to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, your podcast player of choice or to download an MP3 are all a click away, just beneath this episode.
