The video game industry is full of big names, individuals who are almost as well known as the companies and games they're involved with - but even big shot auteurs can hit rough patches, as was the case with Hideo Kojima after his nasty breakup with Konami. It was a lucky encounter with fans that helped him build his own company in the aftermath.
Kojima Productions is, now, a major AAA powerhouse best known for Death Stranding. Before the Norman Reedus led "strand-type game" was a financial hit however, Hideo Kojima wasn't exactly swimming in the kind of capital needed to build a company.
In a recent lengthy interview with The Guardian, Kojima reminisced about how in the early days, he was renting office space from landlords who happened to be Metal Gear fans - an arrangement that came in handy because at the time Kojima Productions didn't have the kind of money that would be needed to rent that studio.
Kojima recounts in the interview how difficult it was to get his independent studio started. Losing the position of Konami Vice President caused banks and landlords to treat him as a "nobody", and he was unable to lease office space and was refused when he sought starting capital for his company.