Kojima Productions director Hideo Kojima has celebrated the two-year anniversary of the studio's independence from publisher Konami with a tweet marking the date and an accompanying photograph of the company's armored mascot.

Kojima Productions was founded back in 2005, but for many years it operated under the control of Konami Digital Entertainment, until Kojima's dramatic split from the publisher in December 2015. Kojima was, for a time, a vice president of Konami, but the split seemed anything but amicable.

Prior to leaving, Kojima developed P.T., a playable teaser for a new reboot of the Silent Hill franchise that he had planned in collaboration with film director Guillermo del Toro, but the project was canceled shortly after by Konami. Although Kojima had previously made statements suggesting that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain would be his last work in the series, Konami seemed to be trying to push the developer out before the game had even released, even going so far as to remove his name from the series' marketing material.

The company also barred Kojima from attending The Game Awards 2015, where the game won Best Action Game and Best Score/Soundtrack. Kiefer Sutherland accepted the awards on his behalf.

In Kojima's absence, Konami has chosen to continue the Metal Gear franchise, but many fans seem to be less than keen to see another title in the series developed without Kojima's involvement. Metal Gear: Survive's trailer, released in August last year, currently has 134,000 Dislikes, significantly outweighing its 23,000 Likes.

Hideo Kojima Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of Independence from Konami

Although Kojima and Konami had been at odds following his departure, Kojima made comments earlier this year thanking the company for allowing him to work on the games he wanted during his tenure with them.

Since founding Kojima Productions as an independent studio, Kojima has stoked hype around his upcoming title, Death Stranding, which recently released another cryptic trailer. Although seemingly puzzling, Kojima nevertheless insists that everything will eventually make sense.

Death Stranding currently has no set release date, although Kojima has made comments implying that it will release before 2019. Whether this will prove true remains to be seen, but the game's trailers have certainly generated a lot of interest and excitement among fans.