It’s no secret that Konami hasn’t fared too well with the Metal Gear Solid franchise since Hideo Kojima’s departure from the company in 2015. The Japanese gaming conglomerate still remains very successful in its other gaming markets, specifically in mobile gaming and gambling hardware, but has largely shied away from triple-A game development. The closest example to a triple-A game would be Pro Evolution Soccer 2020, but the Metal Gear franchise has been largely dormant since Metal Gear Survive flopped in 2018. However, a few times this year, rumors have spun up about a potential Metal Gear Solid remake being orchestrated by Konami.
Fan demand for a Metal Gear Solid remake has been around for a long time, especially after the success of Bluepoint Games’ remake of Shadow of the Colossus. Fan projects remastering the game in Unreal Engine have made the rounds on the internet numerous times, and subsequently received cease & desist orders from Konami. Metal Gear Solid was incredibly innovative at the time, and it’s clear fans want to re-experience the game in a definitive, modernized version. From Konami’s perspective, a Metal Gear Solid remake would be far more lucrative compared to a Metal Gear Solid 6 or sequel.
In the hypothetical scenario that Konami does decide to develop a Metal Gear Solid 6, there would be two very big elephants in the room the publisher would need to address: Hideo Kojima would likely never sign back on (or be asked to), and most remaining Metal Gear fans have already been burned by Metal Gear Survive.
The lion’s share of Metal Gear fans would likely never support a Metal Gear sequel without Kojima at the helm. Kojima experienced a very highly publicized and scandalous departure from Konami, despite the many years of dedication he gave while helming the Metal Gear franchise. Metal Gear Solid not only ushered in a whole genre of stealth action games, but the franchise continued to break the status quo of video games in strangely unique ways. It’s hard to say the franchise could ever be that impactful without Hideo Kojima involved. Even if Kojima was taken out of the equation entirely, there’s very little reason why existing fans would support new Metal Gear.
In fact, Konami tried this with Metal Gear Survive. To be fair, it wasn’t technically a mainline sequel, but it was a fully-fledged Metal Gear game completely developed without any input from Kojima. The end result? Well, everyone knows that Metal Gear Survive flopped in both reception and sales. The Metacritic score on all platforms averages out to about 58-59, with the average user score on all platforms at around 1.6 out of 10. While sales numbers were never officially released by Konami, a first for the franchise, the UK reported a severe drop-off in week one sales compared to any other Metal Gear game before it.
A Konami-sponsored remake of Metal Gear Solid, or an in-house remake of Metal Gear Solid, would be the only logical step for the publisher to make. Any other major sequel to the existing Metal Gear canon has a very high probability of being met by backlash and boycotting. A remake of Metal Gear Solid, whether it’s done by a studio like Bluepoint Games (Demon’s Souls, Shadow of the Colossus) or developed by Konami themselves, would likely do well if done right. The game would likely still be met by a hefty backlash, but it wouldn’t be nearly as severe as a sequel. Fans have been calling for Metal Gear Solid remakes, remasters, and re-releases for a long time.
Even then, Konami can only ride the nostalgic wave for so long before the publisher reaches the end of the existing Metal Gear franchise. Even in a reality where Konami remakes or re-releases one Metal Gear game every few years, the entire Metal Gear franchise wears thin fast. Eventually Konami would run into the aforementioned reasons of not being able to expand beyond the existing canon. Konami’s never really elaborated on the company’s position in triple-A gaming now that it’s refocused much of their efforts into mobile gaming markets instead. For reference, Konami set a quarterly revenue record for its mobile gaming “Digital Entertainment” segment as of this September, citing a 31.8 percent increase year-on-year to 88.3 billion yen, according to Gamasutra.
Regardless, even if Konami decided to begin production on an official Metal Gear Solid sequel, they run a very serious risk. Konami would need to make it explicitly clear that this sequel was different or separate from existing Metal Gear Solid canon for anyone to give it a shot. Even then, there’s a high likelihood support for the game would be tough to come by. If the game makes any substantial connection to the existing Metal Gear Solid saga, controversy or backlash would run the game into the ground before long. It’s not a certainty, but again, Konami’s treatment of both Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear franchise since his departure has been abysmal, to say the least.
Konami could certainly make that choice, as the company’s made it clear before it’s not willing to give up on the Metal Gear franchise just yet. However, the failure of Metal Gear Survive is still a pretty clear indication that fan support for any Metal Gear games without Kojima may not be present for a Metal Gear Solid 6. A remake, however, is a different story. Assuming Konami (or whichever studio develops a remake, like Bluepoint Games) were to remain faithful to Kojima’s original vision, there’s a huge demand for a Metal Gear Solid remake.
A Metal Gear Solid remake is rumored to be in development.
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