With the departure of Hideo Kojima from Konami, many fans of Metal Gear have assumed that it's the end for the franchise. That's not so according to Konami.
In the latest issue of Nikkei, Konami shares that production for the next Metal Gear game has already begun. While right now it's in concept stages, Konami said that “When we start development, a large-scale investment will become necessary”.
More interestingly, instead of acknowledging that Hideo Kojima has left the studio, Konami referred to him as being on "vacation".
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain closed the final gap in Metal Gear's major timeline, signaling the end of an era. Though, there are still plenty of interesting periods in the story's span that runs from the mid 1960's until 2014. A spinoff titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengenace, which was set after the events of Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots, performed admirably despite having a new hack and slash gameplay style that separated it from other releases.
Konami's rushing of Metal Gear to market and cancelation of Silent Hills has put it at odds with the gaming community at large. It'll need to deliver something unnaturally compelling at this point, and with widespread layoffs of its AAA staff it has a lot of challenge to overcome.
