Hideo Kojima has denied rumors that Kojima Studios could be acquired by Sony PlayStation. (Hideo Kojima is a famous game producer, the representative of the "Metal Gear Solid" series, "Death Stranding")
Earlier, a ResetEra user noticed that the banner at the top of the PlayStation Studios website had been updated, including Sam Bridges, a character in Kojima's Death Stranding game, which triggered speculation that Hideo Kojima Studios was acquired by Sony.
The banner image also includes footage of a remake of Bluepoint's Devil's Souls, which was acquired by Sony last year.
Just a few days after the banner update, Kojima tweeted the same image, but without accompanying text, leading many to believe that it was an implicit confirmation that Sony had indeed acquired Kojima Studios.
Later that same day, however, Kojima was forced to release a clarification apologizing for a "misunderstanding" and confirming that "Kojima Studios has been and will continue to be an independent studio".
While some believed Kojima's words, others pointed out that ironically, Blue Dot was forced to make a similar statement after being acquired by Sony because it was also leaked by a picture. And that doesn't explain why Death Stranding characters are now tucked into PlayStation Studios' shiny new banner promo.
Recently, Sony PlayStation has begun to make wild acquisitions, buying studios such as Housemarque, Bluepoint, Firesprite, Nixxes, Valkyrie, Jade Raymond's Haven, and of course, Bungie, the developer of Destiny, it seems that Sony and Microsoft have entered the acquisition war and consolidated their own turf with each other.