Hideo Kojima: Legendary games designer considering legal action after false assassin claims

Posts linking Metal Gear Solid creator with death of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe spread rapidly across the internet

The announcement brings to an end months of rumour and speculation, after Mr Kojima left his old employer Konami in apparently difficult circumstances

Hideo Kojima, the legendary games designer, is considering legal action after being falsely accused of being an assassin.

In recent days, claims have spread across the internet that linked Mr Kojima with the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister who was shot in public last week.

The claims appear to have begun with racist trolls, who posted them apparently knowing them to be false. But they quickly took off across the internet, with some seemingly sharing them believing them to be true.

The posts appear to have started on controversial forum 4chan. There, users shared pictures of Mr Kojima and labelled him as a “left-wing extremist” and suggested he had a criminal record, in what appeared to be an intentionally false claim.

However, they were then shared by many others including French politician Damien Rieu. Mr Rieu later said on Twitter that he had “naively” mistaken a joke post for real information, and apologised to Mr Kojima and to fans of his games.

The claims were also broadcast on European news television. Many of those original reports have since been deleted.

Mr Kojima now says he is considering legal action against some of those who made the claims. He made the announcement through his production company, Kojima Productions.

“Kojima Productions strongly condemns the spread of fake news and rumors that convey false information,” the production company said in a tweet. “We do not tolerate such libel and will consider taking legal action in some cases.”

Mr Kojima is famous for the creation of a number of games, including the Metal Gear Solid series. In 2015, he separated from Konami, where he had done much of his work, and founded Kojima Productions as an independent company.