Metal Gear Solid series producer Noriaki Okamura told fans in a new video feature that he would like to work with Kojima again on the franchise, but explained that people have moved on and that’s just “reality.”
Announced in May 2023, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is an Unreal Engine-powered remake of the original MGS 3, first released in 2004 on PS2 and later ported to other platforms. During June’s Xbox showcase, we got a new, fantastic-looking trailer for the remake. But while the game looks great, it is a bit weird to be getting a new Metal Gear Solid game without the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima, something that came up during a recent video from Konami.
In the first episode of Production Hotline—a dev diary-like series featuring MGS developers speaking about the game—producer Okamura was asked if there was “any chance” that the original staff who worked on MGS 3 would return to help or supervise Delta’s development. In response, Okamura responded: “Wow, okay. I can see we’re starting with a tough one, huh.”
Pre-order Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater: Amazon | Best Buy
“Well, it’s not my place to answer on behalf of anyone outside the company, or to guess how they might feel about it,” said Okamura. “But just speaking for myself, personally, I’d like nothing better than to work with Mr. Kojima and the rest of the team again. If that could happen, that would be the dream.”
However, Okamura isn’t pretending as if that will ever happen, clarifying that “people have moved on to new things” and “that’s just our current reality.”
“We can’t just take it for granted that everyone would work with us again, or let ourselves be completely dependent on them. I just don’t think it’s right for us to be the ones to make that kind of demand of anyone. So we’re working with the expectation that whatever we make, it’s up to us, it’s on our shoulders to do a good job,” said Okamura.
The MGS producer also addressed fan concerns that Kojima and the original developers of Snake Eater would not be included in Delta’s credits.
“Mr. Kojima and all the original development staff are of course credited for their original roles. They were already included in the Master Collection, and they’ll be listed in [Delta] as well. They’re a part of these games too, so absolutely, they’re in.”
The answers from Okamura feel oddly honest and transparent, something that is becoming increasingly rare among big publishers and developers. I’m sort of shocked Konami kept this in the final edit, but I’m happy to see the publisher is letting Delta’s devs speak openly about Kojima and the MGS franchise.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launches sometime later this year on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
Pre-order Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater: Amazon | Best Buy
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