"We're currently reviewing everything - from the team structure to tools and our staff - in order to make Kojima Productions a team that can challenge foreign creators and software houses," he told Famitsu as part of their 2009 preview. "So, because of that, 2009 is going to be a very important year for us.

"I've come to understand that the way we've made games up until now won't translate globally, and I've come to think that I need to make Kojima Productions a team that can compete alongside the rest of the world," he said.


"I've thought a lot about how Western games have been winning, looking it from a global perspective, and there are things that I've noticed. So 2009 will be a year of change, a year where we start from zero again."