There have been rumors for years that a new Metal Gear or Silent Hill would be releasing, and sometimes Caslevania gets tossed in the mix too. Konami decided to bundle them all together and is apparently working on new projects consisting of all 3. Yet, it’s hard to be excited.
The strongest rumor as of late has been revolving around Silent Hill which states that not only is Konami reviving it, but they are having external studios help develop them. These studios are rumored to be Bloober Team, which recently announced an official partnership with Konami, and another unnamed Japanese studio. This rumor is still ongoing as nothing has been officially confirmed just yet.
Now adding to the rumor VideoGamesChronicle is reporting Konami is apparently going full force back into “premium game development” by adding Metal Gear and Caslevania to their growing list of titles. The last Metal Gear title released was Metal Gear Survive, which we all wish we could forget, and the last Castlevania was released in 2014 with Lords of Shadow 2.
The first game on their list is a “re-imagining of Castlevania,” which could be another reboot of the franchise, or an updated re-release, now further details were provided.
Metal Gear is where things seem to get interesting. The previous rumor has been that Bluepoint was taking hold of the franchise and remastering it to their level of expertise, which is exciting because the studio is known for absolutely killer remakes. They also are behind the HD releases of Metal Gear so they obviously had their share of knowledge with the franchise. Now with Sony buying the studio they would have the budget to really go all out with a reboot. However it seems that rumor is false.
Instead it is apparently being confirmed that Chinese studio Virtous is in charge of a “big MGS project.” An insider leaker on Reddit claims that one of the games being remade includes Metal Gear Rising, which will be a simple port to new consoles with “little to no changes” and they will charge a whopping $60 still. However Konami is suggesting that there is a bigger game being made that revolves around MGS3.
Virtuous is commonly a support studio that lends hand in producing assets for bigger games. They helped with Uncharted and Horizon for example. They also developed some ports to Switch which include Bioshock, The Outer Worlds, and Dark Souls remastered…..but sadly they have a bad track record with these ports due to many issues and bugs.
Personally with the studios track record I wouldn’t get too hyped and instead expect a standard “HD” style re-release of all the games, with Rising being separate for whatever reason. According to the leak this is indeed happening one way or another, it’s just curious on why a studio commonly left to support bigger titles is working on probably Konami’s biggest IP to develop a new game. Ports I understand, Konami went the cheapest and fastest route to get that done.
However it also seems Konami is following through with a rumor for Silent Hill, which suggested that multiple studios are making games for the franchise. Something similar could very well be happening with Caslevania and MGS.
It shouldn’t be too long before we figure out what is going on. Earlier this year Konami was scheduled to appear at E3 before abruptly canceling due to timing conflicts, but noted that multiple projects were indeed in the works. So by early next year, or at least by E3, we should hear something.
My take: Honestly it’s hard not to be excited for more Metal Gear, however the hype as of late was mainly because the rumors suggested Sony and bigger names were involved, some even suggest Kojima would get his hands on the franchise again. Taking that out of the equation you are left with just Konami which has done nothing for years for core gaming beyond cash grab mobile titles and an absolutely horrible rendition of PES (Pro Evolution Soccer). I mean PES was THE game at Konami, it lingered around even when Konami went full pachinko because it was making them money. If they are willing to destroy that franchise with a low effort free-to-play, micro transaction infested, title….what’s stopping them from just taking the quick out for their other franchises? I mean it’s the company that released Metal Gear Survive after all…..
