Ryan Payton leaves Kojima Productions

by Majed Athab { Aug 26th 2008 at 2:30PM }

Ryan Payton, assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4 and Kojima Productions' token gaijin, has decided to leave the company. "... It feels like this is how it's supposed to be. It's fate," he said in an interview with Kotaku. Working in Japan and being away from family is hitting him hard; so, when he heard some "pretty heavy news concerning [his] mom," he realized that sticking close to family was all too important.

Most people will probably not remember the name 'Payton' as much as 'Kojima,' but keep in mind that it was Payton who helped develop MGS4 into a more Western-friendly title -- opening the traditionalist Japanese crew to more Western influences (which is why MGS4 plays like a charm). We wish you the best of luck Ryan in your future endeavors and hope you continue to help make amazing games. We guess you'll always have the memories ... and that awesome shirt.

Tags: kojima-productions, konami, metal-gear-solid-4, mgs4, ryan-payton

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

AJ_3 @ Aug 26th 2008 2:36PM

Nice article
is MGS getting a Trophie patch tho?
being an exclusive ...it should -right?
or is it being another Quest for Booty?

Majed Athab @ Aug 26th 2008 3:37PM

If there is anything about this game related to Trophies, you'll find it in our Trophy Portal.

AJ_3 @ Aug 26th 2008 4:01PM

mate,
thankyou for replying, but i feel i have been taken as a fool; dont you think i have already looked in there? (obvioulsy you have not)
MGS4 is not listed...

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 26th 2008 4:44PM

If it's not listed, it's really not confirmed either way. At this point it seems unlikely MGS4 will be patched.

AJ_3 @ Aug 27th 2008 8:54AM

thankyou for your reply Andrew,
i remember hearing that Konami were reluctant to 'drop' MGS4 until 2.4 was released, but like you say, seems to have unfortunately gone begging.
Kinda dissappointing...

Haohmaru @ Aug 26th 2008 2:55PM

That really is an awesome shirt.

Byron517 @ Aug 26th 2008 2:57PM

Well Ryan I hope things work out and everything turns out ok with your mom!! Thanks for helping create one of the best games ever in MGS!!

frankym @ Aug 26th 2008 3:01PM

@Majed Athab

Gee.....you didn't find it interesting that he CONFIRMED MGS5!?

Majed Athab @ Aug 26th 2008 3:09PM

It's not confirmation. He is speaking rhetorically.

frankym @ Aug 26th 2008 3:19PM

@Majed Athab

Uhh...what the hell are you taking about?

How can you possibly make that assumption considering the context of the statement?

frankym @ Aug 26th 2008 3:20PM

Uhhh...what the h*ll are you taking about?

Rhetoric? How do you arrive at this assumption considering the context?

AJ_3 @ Aug 26th 2008 3:30PM

you reply to his comment, but not mine??
(i was first -#shakes fist!#)

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 26th 2008 3:32PM

A lot of fans get a bit overeager to believe certain things. For example, a few days ago, people believed Mirror's Edge was a PS3 timed exclusive, in spite of there being no real evidence pointing to that. Once we get better details, you'll be sure to see a report on the site -- until then, take a statement like that with a grain of salt.

() @ Aug 26th 2008 3:02PM

As someone who much preferred the gameplay elements of MGS4 over the story, I will certainly not forget Ryan's role in the game.

Best of luck to you in the future Ryan, and thank you for your great work in MGS4.

I guess this means no more podcasts :(

Tolkienfanatic @ Aug 26th 2008 3:06PM

I hope MGS5 won't suffer too much for it's lack of Payton-isms.

Hopefully he'll still appear on 1UP podcasts from time to time.

Jeff Perez @ Aug 26th 2008 3:07PM

that's too bad i was actually listening to the kojima productions report when i saw the story. in case he sees this, ryan good luck in the future, will be looking forward to any projects you are involved with.

stargateheaven @ Aug 26th 2008 3:12PM

Oh noooooooo
:(

Matthew Taylor @ Aug 26th 2008 3:27PM

does he speak japanese!?

Dahk @ Aug 26th 2008 6:51PM

I believe he does. I think he works closely with the crew from Japan and since he had a HUGE role in MGS4, I don't think it would've sparked from translators or Kojima trying his English.

Anyway, best of luck Payton! We definitely appreciate your work =D.

frankym @ Aug 26th 2008 3:36PM

@Andrew Yoon:

The Mirrors Edge rumor was a David Reeves screw up. This is coming straight from the horse's mouth.

Name: @ Aug 26th 2008 3:44PM

Was there an article featuring Mr. Ed or was it a completely different horse on a different website?

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 26th 2008 4:44PM

The Reeves quote was taken out of context, and then mistranslated by other foreign sites until it escalated into something bigger than it should've been. I think it does a disservice to our readers to get them falsely excited.

NwrksBigBoss @ Aug 26th 2008 4:56PM

Does this mean there isnt going to be a 2nd podcast in the game?

Zack @ Aug 26th 2008 5:29PM

Crap, does this mean for the MGS4 Integral Podcast? I've been waiting for the second episode since the middle of June and now it seems even less likely that U/C region will see any new episodes for a while, if ever... have players in other regions (Japan maybe?) gotten any episodes of the Integral Podcast?