When Konami announced the long-rumoured Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, also known as Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, (Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater) rampant excitement was dampened by questions – particularly about the potential absence of Hideo Kojima, the game’s original writer, designer, producer, and director. Now, Konami has confirmed Kojima will not be involved in the upcoming remake, likely as a result of the creator’s high-profile split with the studio.
Kojima left Konami following the release of Metal Gear Solid V in 2015, reportedly as a result of an internal and messy ‘power struggle‘ that caused bad blood. The split saw Kojima’s name scrubbed from the cover of all previous Metal Gear Solid games.
‘They are not involved,’ a Konami spokesperson recently told IGN of the involvement of Kojima and his production studio. ‘However, the development team will work hard to create this remake and also the ports (for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection) so that they can be enjoyed on multiple platforms by even more players all around the world.’
Konami developers who have been ‘involved in the production of the past Metal Gear series’ will reportedly be working on the upcoming remake, alongside the team at Virtuos, which has also reportedly contributed to the series in the past.
Read: The MGS3: Snake Eater remake is ‘Metal Gear Solid Delta’
Understandably, this has caused concern among fans of Kojima’s work – as his particular brand of unhinged creativity is a signature difficult to replicate.
Konami has confirmed it isn’t going to ‘update or alter the story in the remake’ and it has also claimed the game uses the voice lines and script from the original game – but with a new direction and updates to gameplay, Metal Gear Solid Delta may still revisit and rework ideas for the new adventure, without the influence of its original creator.
Whether Kojima’s absence will be felt in this release is unclear.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater does not currently have a release date, but it is planned to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC.
