Konami reportedly turned down The Wachowskis' request for a Kojima-directed Matrix game

It has been claimed that Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the creators of The Matrix, personally approached Hideo Kojima to create a video game based on the iconic film, but Konami instantly rejected the proposal.

The details:

• As shared by former Konami vice president of licensing Christopher Bergstresser in an interview with Time Extension, the Wachowskis visited the company’s Tokyo headquarters to meet with Kojima, expressing their desire for him to develop a Matrix game. However, after Kojima collaborator Aki Saito translated the request to future Konami CEO Kazumi Kitaue, the executive simply replied, “No.” “The two of them came in with their concept artist, and effectively they said to Kojima, ‘We really want you to do the Matrix game. Can you do that?’ Aki translated this into Japanese for Mr. Kitaue, and Kitaue just looked at them and told them plainly, ‘No.’ We did still get to enjoy the Matrix Japanese premiere and afterparty, though,” Bergstresser said.
• According to Bergstresser, the rejection came because Konami wanted Kojima to remain focused on Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which was in early development at the time. Despite the official refusal, another former Konami employee revealed that Kojima had expressed "strong interest" in the project and that his team felt "immense disappointment" at the missed opportunity.
• Following Konami's decision, the Matrix license was eventually granted to Shiny Entertainment, which led to the release of Enter the Matrix in 2003 and its sequel, The Path of Neo, in 2005. While both titles were met with mixed reviews, they were commercially successful and have become cult classic action-adventure releases.