Konami wants you to know that it has more Metal Gear to come beyond The Phantom Pain in September.
The publisher just posted a press release to confirm fans that it will continue working on the series into the future. Gamers started questioning the company’s dedication to the franchise due to rumors that claim Konami will part ways with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain launched in December. This announcement is an obvious response to that news — although the company has once again failed to address the state of its Kojima Productions studio. Beyond that, Konami went on to announce it is planning an all new Metal Gear series, and it has begun recruiting new leadership for a team to make the game.
This all comes after Konami stripped Kojima’s name off of its website and promotional materials for Metal Gear Solid V, which started the rumors that Kojima had left the company. The publisher quickly responded to that particular piece of yesterday’s news.
“Konami Digital Entertainment, including Mr. Kojima, will continue to develop and support Metal Gear products,” a Konami spokesperson said in a statement. “Please look forward to future announcements.”
But the company has not confirmed in what capacity Kojima is working on Metal Gear. A separate rumor from website GameSpot suggests the producer is directing the rest of the game as a contract worker. The site’s source goes on to claim Kojima and the other important people from his staff will leave after their contracts expire in December.
We’ve asked Konami to clarify these rumors. It has not returned our request for a comment.
In our report yesterday, we looked at Konami’s recent financial reports and found the company has started shifting heavily to mobile. While today’s announcement would suggest that it doesn’t plan on giving up on making Metal Gear games, it may still look to save money by paying less money to developers who are perhaps not as prestigious as Kojima.
If the father of Metal Gear does leave the company, it also raises a question about the future of Silent Hills — which is the latest entry in the Silent Hill horror franchise. Konami announced last year that Kojima would direct that game, and it has not made any announcements since these rumors started swirling about the state of that release.