The Los Angeles-based studio of Kojima Productions, recently rebranded as Konami Los Angeles Studios, is rumoured to be shutting down with 35 jobs on the line.

3D Worlds co-founder George Broussard, who has a penchant for sharing industry lay-off rumours on social media, tweeted the yet-to-be confirmed information today.

BREAKING: Rumor tells me that Konami has shut down the Kojima Productions LA studio, taking with it approx 35 jobs, just before Xmas.

— George Broussard (@georgeb3dr) November 3, 2015

IGN reached out to Konami for a statement and will update this story as more information comes to hand. It's worth noting Konami Los Angeles Studios is an arm of Kojima Productions, and one that specifically focused on the development of Metal Gear Online. Responsibility for the online multiplayer surface was moved back to Japan shortly before Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's release.

Rumours of the Kojima Productions' disbanding first surfaced in March, around the same time Hideo Kojima's name and Kojima Productions' logo was removed from Konami's Metal Gear Solid website, the LA studio’s listing, social accounts and marketing material.

Kojima Productions was rebranded in the same month as Konami Los Angeles under Konami’s restructuring of its video game development operations. The following month, in April, Konami canceled the Silent Hills franchise reboot that Kojima and director Guillermo Del Toro were developing.

Sources told GameSpot at the time Kojima and senior management would leave upon the completion Metal Gear Solid 5 and the conclusion of contracts in December.

The Japanese voice actor for Solid Snake, Akio Otsuka, again reported the disbanding of Kojima Productions in July. The voice actor Tweeted that the office was disbanded as a game development studio once production on Metal Gear Solid was finalized.
Kojima Productions' final game, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, launched on September 1. Numerous reports this year that Konami is positioning itself to focus on the development of mobile games over console releases.

UPDATE: Konami confirmed the closure of development studio Konami Los Angeles Studios, previously known as Kojima Productions Los Angeles, in a statement provided to IGN today.

"Konami has made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio, effective immediately, due to the product development resources being restructured into a more centralized unit. This facility contributed to the recent Metal Gear Solid games. Konami will continue its operations to support all Metal Gear Solid titles, including the recently launched Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phanton Pain and Metal Gear Online. Metal Gear Online is still scheduled to release for PC Steam in January 2016."