Japanese tech outlet Gizmodo Japan recently published a conversation between Hideo Kojima and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director of the film The Digger (DIGGER).
During the discussion, Kojima said the digital society he depicted in 2001’s Metal Gear Solid 2 has now “become reality.” He pointed to the impact of modern social media, where platforms seem to take on lives of their own and misinformation can shape society—and even people’s everyday lives—just as the game imagined.
Kojima first described Iñárritu’s new film The Digger as a terrifying comedy, one that portrays not some imagined future but events already unfolding in the real world. He was also impressed by the film’s intricate narrative structure, which intertwines cinema and theater.
The conversation then turned to how their scripts do not predict the future so much as take what is already happening and push it further. That was when Kojima brought up the game he made 25 years ago, Metal Gear Solid 2.
Kojima said, “In 2001, I made a game called Metal Gear Solid 2. Social media platforms didn’t exist at the time, but I portrayed a story in which social media seemed to possess a life of its own. Now, that world has truly become reality. The Digger does something similar, doesn’t it?”
Kojima went on to note that false information on today’s social platforms can continuously grow and spread, ultimately changing political conditions and people’s daily lives. He described the phenomenon as terrifying.
He said he sensed a similar structure in The Digger: people appear to be standing on a stage while being manipulated by some other force. That inability to understand or control their own circumstances is deeply unsettling. He added that in a digital world where truth is increasingly difficult to identify, people are constantly bombarded and influenced by information, leaving them confused and unsure of what to do—something he likewise finds frightening.
Kojima also said that once AI becomes integrated into social platforms, people will be increasingly exposed to information that aligns with their own preferences and beliefs, while gradually losing access to different perspectives and the chance to discover something unexpected. He finds that development alarming as well. In his view, technological progress should have made modern society more convenient and more open. Instead, the range of information and experiences available to people is steadily narrowing.
▼ Gizmodo Japan’s video conversation between Hideo Kojima and The Digger director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Kojima previously discussed the same creative philosophy in a Q&A video interview published by WIRED.jp in December 2025, responding to a viewer who asked whether Metal Gear Solid 2 depicted a future in which AI could rule the world.
He explained that the game was not really about AI itself, but the future of digital society. He had imagined that future with the hope that the world would never turn out that way. Unfortunately, reality has gradually moved closer to the scenario portrayed in the game.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was, of course, released back in 2001, and plenty of Western films have explored possible futures in which AI transforms society. Still, Kojima’s comments in this interview once again highlight a troubling contradiction of modern social media: people appear to have more choices than ever, yet the boundaries around what they actually see are becoming increasingly restrictive.
As technology continues to advance, the information reaching people may become ever more filtered and limited—potentially pushing society toward even greater polarization.
via： Gizmodo Japan