Earlier this year game developer and publisher Konami had a spat with the Metal Gear creator and game director Hideo Kojima. The fiasco between the two was surrounded by a general haze of vagueness, but one thing was obvious — Kojima had been removed as an executive at Konami and Konami is looking for someone else to lead the game series.
In statement made by Konami during the breakdown of their relationship with Kojima, the company revealed that the series would be going and that they were already considering interviewing his replacement.
Regardless of the negative fan reaction to a Kojima-less Metal Gear game, Konami has reiterated that they are continuing on with the game series. Speaking with MCV marketing executive Jon Edwards reiterated Konami's earlier sentiment “Metal Gear Solid is a key Konami franchise,” said Edwards. “The company has already committed to future iterations, which we look forward to.”
(I'm not looking forward to Kojima-less iterations.)
Whether or not Konami will bring Kojima back into the mix is unclear, as Edwards does not that it was Kojima's vision that propelled series forward.
“Every new Metal Gear Solid title has seen Mr Kojima moving closer to his vision of a game that can match his scope. The Phantom Pain sees ideas formed in the PSP title Peace Walker come to fruition, as [the player’s HQ] Mother Base is not only explored, but shown – and used to add a tactical bent to the game. While the open-world idea first hinted at in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and then Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally realised, with the game worlds boasting huge scale but incredible detail, too. "
Edwards went on say that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will be the "game of the year — guaranteed," which might be a bit of an early claim as Halo 5: Guardians has yet to release and will likely draw a good amount of attention.
