Fans are excited over the idea of Hideo Kojima making one more Metal Gear Solid game, but much more likely is him returning to make a movie based on the series.
After years of silence regarding its many iconic game franchises, Konami is releasing games left and right. The company has several major releases slated for 2024 including Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and the Silent Hill 2 remake. Konami even announced the stealth drop of Silent Hill: The Short Message during the January 2024 State of Play event. Meanwhile, Kojima isn’t lacking for work with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and OD both positioned as some of the biggest exclusives set to launch on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, respectively.
Kojima, in all likelihood, will remain best known for Metal Gear Solid for the rest of his career and his ugly breakup with Konami over how its final mainline game was handled. That made it a surprise to see him announce a new “action espionage” game and naturally raised questions about whether a new Metal Gear Solid game. Because of that, it’s worth checking in on the status of Kojima, Konami, and the series, and whether there might be anything to this.
Is Hideo Kojima making a new Metal Gear Solid?
Hideo Kojima is not confirmed to be attached to any new Metal Gear Solid games, and it’s unlikely that he will be attached to a new one.
Kojima’s frustration with Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami are one of the biggest stories in recent video game history. While the series helped establish Kojima as one of the biggest names in the gaming industry, his messy divorce from Konami that included Kojima self-inserting into Metal Gear Solid 5 and Konami blocking Kojima from appearing at The Game Awards.
While there were years of uncertainty regarding the fate of the series, Konami ultimately brought Metal Gear Solid back to life in 2023 by announcing the Master Collection bundle and MGS Delta: Snake Eater. Meanwhile, Kojima Productions is playing every side in the console wars, producing AAA exclusives for both Xbox and PlayStation.
Sony and Kojima acquiring the rights to the series and creating new games seemed much more likely before Konami began actively developing games in the series. With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on the way and with evidence of two other MGS titles in the works, it no longer seems like Konami would be willing to wash its hands of the series. Meanwhile Kojima is busy enough with at least two major games currently in the works at his studio. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s completely out of the series, though.
Hideo Kojima may be making a Metal Gear Solid movie
Sony and Hideo Kojima may be partnered on finally making a Metal Gear Solid film, or some other project.
It’s unclear what Kojima’s new project is on every level. Kojima stated it’s a “new, original IP” and described it as a “next-generation action espionage game.” That said, he also stated that he hopes to have this game “transcend the barriers between films and video games.” Kojima cited Sony’s music and film operations as being involved in the project.
While one might think that this is par for the course for Kojima and his often-cinematic games, there’s reason to believe that this new game is actually the long-awaited Metal Gear Solid film.
News regarding a Metal Gear Solid movie has been on a slow drip for almost 20 years. Kojima announced a live-action MGS film adaptation in 2006, which officially scrapped in 2010. In 2012, Konami announced that it had signed a deal with Arad Productions and Columbia Pictures to create the film. Columbia Pictures is a subsidiary of Sony and was shown in the reveal of the new project. Numerous figures have been attached to the project over the years including Jordan Vogt-Roberts as director and Oscar Isaac as the actor to play Snake.
Something akin to the controversial Silent Hill: Ascension, which was marketed as a game but was more of a film with minor interactive elements and a livechat, could be what’s in store.
It’s also possible that Sony is just effectively looking to create its own Metal Gear equivalent. PlayStation has seemingly been looking to create its own IPs that hearken to established third-party franchises, including making its own version of Call of Duty. Sony partnering with Kojima to make the “real” Metal Gear Solid of the future seems like it would be an easy sell.
Fans will have to wait for some time before they find out what this new endeavor will actually be, however. Kojima stated that work won’t fully begin on it until Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is released, which isn’t going to happen until 2025.
