Kojimas Missed Chance: How the Wachowskis Approached Him for a Matrix Game

Hideo Kojima is a passionate cinema enthusiast, a fact that is evident in the games he has created. In turn, filmmakers are also drawn to Kojima. As revealed by former licensing vice president at Konami Christopher Bergstresser, the directors of the Matrix series, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, approached the Japanese game designer to create a video game based on their film.

According to Bergstresser, the Wachowski sisters were avid fans of Kojima. In the late 1990s, they reached out to Konami seeking a meeting with the game designer. Management agreed and invited the sisters to the company headquarters. Along with Kojima, attendees included Bergstresser, Akiyoshi Saito (now part of Kojima Productions), and former CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment Kazumi Kitaue.

Christopher Bergstresser

The game designer was «very interested» in adapting the Matrix, but at that time, Kojima and his team were already deep into the development of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Bergstresser explained that the CEO of Konami wanted all of Kojima’s focus and resources dedicated to the Metal Gear series. An anonymous source stated that this decision led to «great disappointment» among Kojima’s team.

Ultimately, others took on the task of creating a game based on the Matrix. In 2003, Enter the Matrix was released, which fell between Metal Gear Solid 2 in 2001 and Metal Gear Solid 3 in 2004.