Video game creator Hideo Kojima won’t stand for ‘fake news’ linking him to Shinzo Abe’s assassination

Steel Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is not playing games when it comes to misinformation.

On Saturday, the prolific Japanese video game designer’s Kojima Shows shared a statement condemning “fake news” in response to people — ranging from 4chan customers to politicians — who have incorrectly discovered him as the cannibal of Japan’s previous Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“#KojimaProductions strongly condemns the particular spread of false news and rumours that convey false information, ” said the statement submitted to Twitter. “We do not tolerate such libel and will think about taking legal action in some cases. ”

Abe, 67, has been assassinated in traditional western Japan on Fri by a gunman whom opened fire through behind while he delivered a marketing campaign speech.

The previous prime minister had been airlifted to a nearby hospital in Nara and pronounced deceased after receiving massive blood transfusions, officials said. Police within Nara arrested the particular suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, who is a former member of Japan’s navy.

Shortly after the assassination, users at the social media platform 4chan shared posts kidding that Kojima photo Abe and evaluating the appearances of Kojima and the assassin, according to Vice. The particular posts soon made their way to other platforms, including Twitter and international information outlets.

France politician Damien Rieu shared the photos of the gaming body with a caption that will translated to “the extreme left kills. ” Rieu then deleted the post and walked back again his sentiments.

“I naively got a joke for information. I never thought we could make humour about the assassination of a man but I had been wrong to not check out before sharing. Our apologies to #HideoKojima and to the supporters of #MetalGear, ” Dieu said in a tweet, translated through French.

Kotaku and Vice also reported that information outlets in Greece and Iran improperly identified Kojima because Abe’s killer.

Kojima created the Metal Gear franchise and launched Death Stranding in 2019. He or she released Death Stranding: Company directors Cut in March. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune Information Service