It has been a long time coming, but the worst-kept secret in gaming has finally been made official: Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has left Konami Corp.

Or at least it has been made halfway official, as Konami itself is still somehow denying the fact that Kojima is no longer with the company, even though everyone from famed director Guillermo Del Toro to Solid Snake voice actor Akio Otsuka have already talked about it at length over the last few months.

“Currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid V and are taking a long time off from work,” Konami said in a statement to a Japanese newspaper (via Kotaku).

Regarding a reported farewell party held in Kojima’s honor, Konami added, “We’re not sure what kind of thing this was.”

Rumors about Kojima’s falling out at Konami have been circulating since March, when the publisher began cryptically removing Kojima’s name from the box art and advertisements for his games. Konami remained characteristically silent about the move, and the publisher has repeatedly denied any conflict, despite obvious evidence to the contrary.

Earlier this year, there was also a rather disturbing report by Japanese news publication Nikkei, which painted a dark picture of the internal workings of Konami, including draconian employee policies.

While Kojima’s departure from Konami could hardly be called amiable, the game creator went out with a bang, and his final game for Konami was the enormously successful Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which brought in more money on its opening day than both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World combined.

Kojima is reportedly under a non-compete clause that prevents him from working on another game until December, and there is currently no word on what the game maker plans on doing next.

Photo credit: “Hideo Kojima 20100702 Japan Expo 1” by Georges Seguin (Okki) – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.