It seems "Metal Gear Survive" is already full of surprises and easter eggs even just a few days after its release, as players discover a hidden tribute cleverly snuck into the game by some developers.
The tribute was directed at none other than Hideo Kojima himself, who was the creator of the franchise but was sacked by the publisher and license holder Konami after "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain." The hidden message reads "KJP Forever," whereas KJP was a reference to Kojima Productions, which is the development studio created by Kojima for the "Metal Gear" franchise before he was forced to cut ties with Konami.
The tribute was placed in the in-game clipboard containing the list of mercenaries in which the surnames spelled out "KJP Forever" and the last two people on the list were the two lead game designers, this happens when players are creating their characters. This left a lot of people to assume that some of the staff left at Konami who worked on "Metal Gear Survive" were on good terms with Kojima. One can even assume that they gave proper credit where it was due since it was essentially Kojima who was solely responsible for the long-running "Metal Gear" franchise.
For those unfamiliar with the debacle regarding Kojima and publisher Konami, the relationship between the two turned sour after the release of "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" back in 2015. Apparently, Kojima wanting to make "The Phantom Pain" a costly masterpiece was what drove a rift between the two parties. The game creator allegedly kept delaying and spending so much of the publisher's funding but was largely unaffected since he was being paid a set amount of salary regardless of the game's profits.
This was why Konami had to let go of Kojima, despite his vision being almost necessary for the "Metal Gear" franchise to flourish. Meanwhile, "Metal Gear Survive" is not doing well right now, partly due to its departure from the franchise's stealth formula and core gameplay as well as some people seeing it as a blatant cash grab now that Kojima is out of the picture.
