Kojima Productions starts selling anti-war merch with proceeds going to Ukrainian refugees

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The peace merchandise being sold by Kojima Productions.
(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Hideo Kojima's games have long walked a tightrope between fetishising the military, and condemning humanity's never-ending drive towards war. It's perhaps best encapsulated by Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker where, in a drive for independence and self-determination, Big Boss 'accidentally' ends up creating an ungoverned militia with nuclear capability.

These themes were less prevalent in Death Stranding, mainly because it's set in a world where the apocalypse has already happened. But anti-war sentiment remains a big theme for Kojima, and so it's perhaps unsurprising that Kojima Productions has now announced the launch of a new piece of merch to raise funds for Ukrainians fleeing the war in Europe, and has also made a commitment to "provide support" to those who have evacuated from Ukraine to Japan.

The merchandise is a duraluminum Peace sign with a strap, called the Ludens Peace Mark Unit. All proceeds from the sale will be donated directly to those who have evacuated from Ukraine to Japan, it costs 5000 JPY (around $40), and it is expected to start shipping in August.

Kojima Productions is currently in the process of moving offices to a different part of Tokyo, and also shared a photo of its mascot wearing the peace sign.

Kojima Productions is currently working on Death Stranding 2, or at least that's what Norman Reedus says, as well as annoying fanboys by signing up to make a game with Xbox.

The war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight. The games industry has generally taken a strong anti-war and pro-Ukraine position, and no wonder: As the formerly Kyiv-based GSC Game World shared recently, what is going on over there is inhuman.

Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."