Kojima talks about the future of MGS

By Robert Purchese Published 3 April, 2008

Might not end in June.

Hideo Kojima has said Metal Gear Solid 4 might not necessarily be the last instalment in the series.

Apparently he's implied it will be the final game to avoid being press-ganged into developing more but it could live on, as a game or as a novel or comic.

"PR-wise, I really don't want to say that this the final game or this is the wrap up, but if I don't say it, people will make me create MGS again," Kojima told IGN.

"So I have to say, 'Die, Snake,' and really end it so I can move on to something else! Actually, it's a game, so even if Snake dies, the game can live on. We have to kill him at a certain point."

There is always the possibility that the series may be expanded onto the PSP as well. Kojima has a son who hates the console versions of Metal Gear Solid, but loved Portable Ops, and the opportunity to target this "very important and new" 13 to 15 year-old market is something Kojima is excited about.

However, he admitted he was getting to the stage where he had been trying to "pass the baton" to the younger members of his team, although being a stickler for perfection in all areas made it difficult to let go of.

Still, when Kojima does finally put Metal Gear Solid to bed, he'd like to try something different.

"Finally, it's the end of Snake, so I'd really want to start something really fresh and new when I create the game for the next one. Maybe the sequel to ZOE or a remake of Snatcher, for instance - if I just participate as a producer, yeah, that could be possible."

What would you like to see Hideo Kojima make next, Eurogamer reader?

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is due for release on 12th June.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • quantumsheep #1 4 years ago

    So he dies at the end of MGS 4?

    Way to go with the spoilers!

  • Widge #2 4 years ago

    Oh god yes, ZOE3 please!
    ZOE1 was tragically short, ended just as it began to be interesting. ZOE2 was an absolute manga feast! Visually spectacular for the old PS2, more of that sir!

  • ecureuil #3 4 years ago

    ZOE sequel please.

  • bad09 #4 4 years ago

    Does any one else think the PSP portable ops game was poo?

  • agparrot #5 4 years ago

    "So I have to say, 'Die, Snake,' and really end it so I can move on to something else!

    At least there weren't any spoilers.

  • dan13l #6 4 years ago

    A Snatcher update would be awesome. One of the very best MegaCD games that. Although it didn't exactly have much to worry about...

  • neilka #7 4 years ago

    I would have thought it was pretty obvious that Snake dies in this one, given what we know so far.

  • Moz #8 4 years ago

    maybe it's a ploy to make you think he's going to die, when he actually retires to a tropical island, but seriousely if he's saying it's the last game, then ever snake has to die, retire or retire and then die of old age.

  • agparrot #9 4 years ago

    They can always just clone the old Snake dude, anyway, when they realise nobody wants to play any of Kojima's other games.

  • mcwildcard #10 4 years ago

    Remake of Snatcher?!
    Jesus, why hasn't anyone done that yet?!
    Best game on the Mega-CD bar none, it'd be awesome if Kojima picked it up!

  • Arwin #11 4 years ago

    I wasn't a BIG ZOE fan, but still, the idea of ZOE on the PS3 makes me giddy. All that next gen tech ... ! It should be one of the few games where SIXAXIS controls have a lot of unquestioned potential!
    Edited by Arwin at 03/04/08 @ 14:13

  • neilka #12 4 years ago

    "Best game on the Mega-CD bar none, it'd be awesome if Kojima picked it up!"

    He made the original.

  • Zander #13 4 years ago

    I remember getting ZOE just because of the MGS 2 demo that came with it. I know, i know i was sucked into the marketing! What i wasn't expecting was a really enjoyable, unique and visually stunning game. Might have to find a copy, for old times.

    It would def be interesting to see what he does next. What i would really like tho is for him to go back and redo the nes games metal gear & 2. Then i'll let him have a snake break :-)

  • LOLLERS #14 4 years ago

    Hideo Kojima's HAW

  • kangarootoo #15 4 years ago

    Saying Snake might die is hardly a spoiler. The MGS story lines are always so bloody convoluted and ridiculous than any situation can lead into any other situation.

    I'm sure they could kill him in scene one, clone his bollocks using RADIATION in scene two, and have a ninja female clone of him (who is secretly his mother) with a gun for an arm kicking ass by the end of scene three.

    Maybe he could pass the mantle to me?

  • crazyhorse174 #16 4 years ago

    Saying Snake might die is hardly a spoiler. The MGS story lines are always so bloody convoluted and ridiculous than any situation can lead into any other situation.

    I'm sure they could kill him in scene one, clone his bollocks using RADIATION in scene two, and have a ninja female clone of him (who is secretly his mother) with a gun for an arm kicking ass by the end of scene three.

    Maybe he could pass the mantle to me?

    +1 - made me laugh there! And perfectly credible by the standards of MGS!

  • Xerx3s #17 4 years ago

    Fuck that ZOE game, give us a new anime series!

  • quantumsheep #18 4 years ago

    Well, I've been avoiding reading too much about this game so him dying wasn't an obvious move to me!

    And fair enough, they can always bring him back *somehow*. But still, I regard what's said here as a spoiler! :(

  • AcidSnake #19 4 years ago

    "Maybe he could pass the mantle to me?"

    Nope, you haven't included the various cutscenes talking about the nature of war...You still have much to learn from Kojima...

  • agparrot #20 4 years ago

    Saying Snake might die is hardly a spoiler. The MGS story lines are always so bloody convoluted and ridiculous than any situation can lead into any other situation.

    I'm sure they could kill him in scene one, clone his bollocks using RADIATION in scene two, and have a ninja female clone of him (who is secretly his mother) with a gun for an arm kicking ass by the end of scene three.

    Maybe he could pass the mantle to me?

    I suppose it depends what RADIATION stands for!

    lol, though - I can't wait to be Ninjafemalesnake.

    /cue more snake charmer jokes.

  • gingerlink #21 4 years ago

    noone spot this?

    I'd really want to start something really fresh and new when I create the game for the next one. Maybe the sequel to ZOE or a remake of Snatcher

  • rudedudejude #22 4 years ago

    This game will be revolutionary, making the main character an OAP that snuffs it or goes into a home at the end.

    With an ageing populations this is the way forward.

    Sponsored by SAGA.

  • f00b_inc #23 4 years ago

    Saying Snake might die is hardly a spoiler. The MGS story lines are always so bloody convoluted and ridiculous than any situation can lead into any other situation.

    I'm sure they could kill him in scene one, clone his bollocks using RADIATION in scene two, and have a ninja female clone of him (who is secretly his mother) with a gun for an arm kicking ass by the end of scene three.
    ---
    Maybe he could pass the mantle to me?

    I suppose it depends what RADIATION stands for!

    lol, though - I can't wait to be Ninjafemale

    +1 lol :)

  • Widge #24 4 years ago

    RE: Portable Ops

    I got into it for a time, but got distracted by playing the GTA games and then Syphon Filter:Logan's Shadow. Now I'm on Crisis Core so thats absorbing all my time!

  • anomagnus #25 4 years ago

    bullsh*t, they'll trot this cash cow forever

    i expect MGS 7, Guns of the Nursing Home on playstation V

    I'm sh*t sick of Kojima and his sh*te 'this is the last MGS' he wails, while secretly thinking of how to shovel a further, preposterous sequel in to boost his already fat wallet

  • Quint2020 #26 4 years ago

    ZOE3 double time!

  • FenderMaster #27 4 years ago

    more ZOE please

    I have an awesome demo of ZOE 2, but i could never find it in shops

    2nd hand copies cost a fortune now

  • menage #28 4 years ago

    Screw him. he said 3 was the final one already. I'm already tired of this game and it isn't even out yet.

  • Madafunkola #29 4 years ago

    @Adam_T:
    "To be this good takes SAGA"

  • seasidebaz #30 4 years ago

    so, something new without snake? but a mgs game?

    i put forward metal gear solid: project t.e.t.r.i.s.

    it pits you as ocelot against big boss, who is hiding in a cardboard box somewhere in your garage next to your house. you get to drop more boxes from above (via some kind of crane, the garage has no roof) and every time you form a line of boxes, they disappear. the aim is to find big boss before the garage fills up.

    i sense winning game here people!

    edit: replaced "screen" with "garage". makes more sense that way...
    Edited by seasidebaz at 03/04/08 @ 15:07

  • seasidebaz #31 4 years ago

    sorry, my comment should have said metal gear cashin

  • kangarootoo #32 4 years ago

    "I suppose it depends what RADIATION stands for! "

    It doesn't really matter so long as the characters put excessive focus on it when they speak it in dialogue. Its probably some kind of Secret Government Programme back in the Cold War (so thats that cleared up then).

  • Widge #33 4 years ago

    EXCUSE ME
    Those of us who have seen the videos on PSN know that the cardboard box has been given a full 'metal oil drum' HD workover.
    Get your inanimate object references correct for the inaccuracies make me stroppy.

  • seasidebaz #34 4 years ago

    @widge:

    orly? i saw the mgo videos: definately a cardboard box. although maybe instead of having 3 different types of box, 1 is now an oildrum?

  • Widge #35 4 years ago

    hahaha, I don't know if the cardboard box is in there still. I think it may be as I'm sure on the gameplay vid I heard Kojima referring to it as a fan favourite.

    He certainly has a massive oil drum now, which he can hide in, roll about it nailing people with, and then vomit afterwards. Obviously the new sneaking suit comes with large pockets.

  • Physically_Insane #36 4 years ago

    Metal Gear Raiden

  • dudefella #37 4 years ago

    Zone of the Enders 3, YES!!! DO IIIIIT!

  • Zander #38 4 years ago

    Yeah Gray fox, get him involved. What would the baddie unit he fight be called?? H.R.T - Horse Riding Toffs

  • Razorus #39 4 years ago

    ZOE 3 4 da ween.

  • firefly #40 4 years ago

    I think Kojima should start working on a MGS spin-off franchise where the cardboard boxes take centre stage.

    Maybe some sort of cardboard box factory sim.

    Or just a game where you actually get to play as Metal Gear.

  • DjFlex52 #41 4 years ago

    a remake of Snatcher? Woohoo!!
    One of the main reasons I bought a Sega CD (maybe i shouldn't have disclose this) besides Sonic CD was this great game.

  • VMerken #42 4 years ago

    How about Policenauts 2? The awe of SNATCHER combined with the ZOE space theme.

    The best of two worlds, in my humble opinion.

  • WinterSnowblind #43 4 years ago

    Hm. Disappointing, we've been promised an end to this series for a long time now, if this one ends in another cliff-hanger I might just lose all interest in the series, the second game was bad enough for it's contrived plot, I'm not exactly exstatic about a direct sequel, I just want to know how it's going to end.

  • smelly #44 4 years ago

    "So he dies at the end of MGS 4?

    Way to go with the spoilers!"

    Well we already know he's an old man in it.


    But am i the only one who got bored of mgs after the ps1 one?

  • penhalion #45 4 years ago

    If snake dies, then I'm loathed to invest any time into the game. I really hate games where the hero dies at the end. Not because i'm particularly adverse to the idea but, rather because in interactive fiction, you invest far more emotion into a character than a movie (unless it's a really solid movie). You then get left feeling empty. A good example of this is the last ultima game, where the avatar sacrifices himself for the sake of britania. You hope he ascended but, deep down you kind of doubt it.

    Because of the way Kojima wrote the metal gear games, Snakes death can't be anything other than a final defeat, especially as his brother just needed a bloody arm in order to survive indefinitely. I already feel a "what was the point then" moment and the games not even out yet!

  • foamy #46 4 years ago

    Obviously Kojima enjoys fucking with people's minds. I would bet that even if Snake died in MGS4 he would be back in MGS5, which will come out. My 2 cents.

  • ocean #47 4 years ago

    A remake/sequel of Snatcher or SD-Snatcher would be soooooooooooo great!!!!
    I enjoyed Snatcher more than any other Kojima game.
    An update on Penguin Adventure would be a killer also!

  • tiddles #48 4 years ago

    I read it as being potentially a metaphorical "killing off" - this will be the last game to feature Snake, whether or not he actually dies at the end... but yeah, given the plotting of the MGS series, dying is only ever a slight inconvenience...