14 DAY TRIAL // Konami confirms that it's going to develop the Metal Gear series well beyond the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and has already begun hiring new people to work on the franchise. Unfortunately, it's still unclear what's happening with the mastermind of the series, Hideo Kojima.
Yesterday was filled with rumors about a possible departure of legendary Japanese designer Hideo Kojima from Konami, ahead of the debut of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. This was backed up by changes in the Twitter accounts of the series, not to mention modifications brought to the cover artwork for the upcoming The Phantom Pain, which is no longer branded "A Hideo Kojima Game."
Despite an ambiguous statement from Konami saying that Kojima will continue to work with the large publisher, many fans remained unconvinced.
More Metal Gear titles are coming after The Phantom Pain
Now, Konami confirms, via statements found on its Japanese website by NeoGAF, that it's going to continue developing the franchise well beyond the upcoming The Phantom Pain and that a separate Metal Gear series will also be developed by a new team.
The Japanese publisher has also begun a hiring spree for this new Metal Gear team, as it seems that Kojima's own Kojima Productions studio is either going to focus on the successor of The Phantom Pain, or stop working altogether on the series.
As of right now, Konami is no longer making any statements and Kojima has remained peculiarly quiet, despite being quite active in recent weeks by posting screenshots and updates about the work he was doing on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
The actual game is going to launch on September 1 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms. The PC version is set to debut two weeks later, on September 15, via the Steam service.
