A decade is a long period of time, but for Metal Gear Solid fans, it’s an eternity. Fortunately, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launches at the end of the month, bringing a classic from the original series into the modern age of gaming. But beyond that? Expect the future of Metal Gear Solid to be handed over to a new generation of developers.
Metal Gear veterans Noriaki Okamura and Yuji Korekado recently spoke about how they were preparing to hand over the franchise to a younger team if Konami ever decides to produce a brand-new Metal Gear Solid game.
“One of the reasons why we brought in a lot of fresh meat–all the new, younger developers–is because, not only did we want to give them a chance to figure out how to create and develop a Metal Gear game, but also give them a chance to experience the game themselves,” Okamura said to Rolling Stone. “And we’ll still be here for a while, but right now the goal is to build a team that could carry on the legacy on our behalf and could produce, hopefully in the future, more exciting games.”
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is designed to be a bridge for that idea, as Okamura and Korekado view it as having the potential to reenergize the franchise and draw in new creators. Korekado explained that the seasoned developers working on the game were able to incorporate feedback from younger members on the team that would help modernize the game, while still retaining the original elements that made this entry in the series so captivating when it was first released in the 2000s.
The future of Metal Gear Solid is also one that will likely not involve series creator Hideo Kojima, as following his exit from Konami, the industry legend has been busy with multiple projects at his studio, like Death Stranding and its sequel, OD, and a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid, Phsyint.
Kojima has also spoken about how all the demanding work of creating a video game has begun to take a mental and physical toll on him as he grows older, but he still plans to remain as creative for as long as possible–or at least until he becomes the first person to make a game in space. He’s also not planning to play Metal Gear Solid Delta.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on August 28, and we gave it a 9/10 in our review. “Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3 remake is a safe but successful modernization of a beloved classic,” Tamoor Hussain wrote in GameSpot’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater review.
