Copyright Wccftech
There's little doubt that The Matrix franchise is criminally underserved when it comes to videogame adaptations, despite being theoretically a perfect fit for the medium. In the 26 years since the original movie's theatrical debut, we only got two decent games: 2003's single player action/adventure game Enter the Matrix and 2005's MMORPG The Matrix Online. More recently, the interactive experience The Matrix Awakens was released in late 2021, but it was really just a tech demo for Unreal Engine 5 and a tease at the level of quality that gaming fans of the IP never really got to fully experience. That makes it all the harder to swallow the news that revered videogame designer Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear, Death Stranding) was once asked to make a game based on The Matrix. The revelation was shared by Christopher Bergstresser, the Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning & Business Development at Konami between 1996 and 2002, in an interview with Time Extension. Bergstresser recounted an episode that occurred on August 25, 1999, the day of the Japanese theatrical debut of the original movie. The Wachowskis were fans of Kojima's work and, upon meeting him, asked if he'd want to make a Matrix game. However, former Konami CEO Kazumi Kitaue allegedly flat-out refused. The Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima, so Kazumi Kitaue, Kojima, Aki Saito (who still works with Kojima), and I were at the Konami HQ, and we got a call from the Wachowskis, who wanted to come in and meet with Kojima. So they did! The two of them came in with their concept artist, and effectively they said to Kojima, ‘We really want you to do the Matrix game. Can you do that?’ Aki translated this into Japanese for Mr. Kitaue, and Kitaue just looked at them and told them plainly, ‘No’. We did still get to enjoy the Matrix Japanese premiere and afterparty, though. Time Extension also claims to have talked about this with another former Konami employee, who reportedly added that Hideo Kojima continued to express a strong interest in the partnership after Kitaue's comment. Perhaps that means he subsequently petitioned the executive to allow it to happen, but alas, it was not to be. We'll never know how such a project would have turned out, but it certainly makes us sad that it never came to light.
