14 DAY TRIAL // It might be just a few months since the launch of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but it seems that video game publisher Konami is already exploring options about a new game in the franchise, which is at the moment in the planning phase.
The information comes from a report in Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei, which has been translated by Kotaku.
Konami is thinking about making a large scale investment to create the new Metal Gear Solid video game, although it's unclear whether the company is talking about creating an entirely new studio or about the resources required to create an AAA title in the current industry environment.
The Nikkei story also mentions that it is unclear at the moment whether Hideo Kojima will be involved in any way and whether any members of his old team are still connected to the franchise.
Even if Konami actually starts working on a new Metal Gear Solid title right now, an official announcement and a trailer linked to it will only be offered in a year at the earliest, when the company has a clear idea about the game it plans to deliver.
Sources have been saying that Hideo Kojima is no longer involved in any way with the company and that he actually had a big going away party recently while the official position is that more information will be offered before the end of the year.
A game that's created without the involvement of the creator of the series will be hard to market to the very loyal fan base of Metal Gear Solid, especially if Kojima creates another company and announces a new project.
Konami is apparently still focused on the AAA segment
If a new title is entering development soon and requires a big investment, the publisher will probably have to set up an entirely new studio in order to create it.
Rumors are now saying that the Los Angeles-based team that worked on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has been closed down, and that 35 people are now out of a job.
The LA studio was focused on the creation of the Online segment of the game, which allows gamers to invade each other's FOBs and to try out their stealth and combat skills against human opponents.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is offered on the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 and the PC and has managed to ship more than 5.5 million units all over the world.
Since the game arrived, it has also received some updates, which deliver a range of new content and also fix issues that the player community has been flagging.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain offers an open world structure for the first time in the series and is more focused on gameplay than on story when compared to other Kojima creations.
Fans are speculating that significant narrative elements have been cut during development and that at least some of them will be delivered in the future via downloadable content packs.