Fox Engine Overseer Reportedly Quits Konami
One of the people responsible for the amazing technology that helped make Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain come to life has reportedly left Konami.
According to IGN and multiple sources, Konami's Worldwide Technology Director Julien Merceron is parting ways with the company. Merceron first joined Konami two years ago and oversaw the development of Kojima Productions' Fox Engine that was used to create Pro Evolution Soccer, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Merceron parting ways with the company is overshadowed by the expected departure of Metal Gear series creator and director Hideo Kojima. Throughout 2015, Konami has been doing some questionable actions in regards to Kojima's projects. The company dismantled Kojima Productions and removed the series tagline of "A Hideo Kojima Game" from all of the Metal Gear products it was selling, including the recent box art of The Phantom Pain. Konami also pulled the plug on Silent Hills, which was going to be a new entry of the popular survival horror series starring Norman Reedus, made by Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Now, it appears that Konami is starting to let go of its dedication to video game console software and jumping onto the bandwagon of mobile gaming.
Prior to his gig at Konami, Julien Merceron spent seven years at Square Enix, where he was the CTO at IO Interactive, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. He eventually became Square Enix's Global Technology Director. Unfortunately, there's no word on where he plans to go next.
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