With the advance access of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater slated to happen later today, and the full release out on August 28, it looks like Konami is now planning for the future of the franchise. In an interview with Rolling Stone at Gamescom 2025, producers and series veterans Noriaki Okamura and Yuji Korekado spoke about bringing back the Metal Gear series and modernising it for the current audience.
“One thing that was really helpful was to understand how modern gamers play games; what frustrates them, what makes it easier for them,” Korekado said. “[We] were able to get a lot of feedback from all the younger development staff. We were aware that we needed to maintain the original. We wanted to keep the story, wanted to keep the gameplay as [close] to the original as possible. They understood the assignment, and what they did is help us make sure [it’s] not too awkward, it still feels like a fun and exciting game.”
When it comes to Konami’s decision to bring back the Metal Gear series with a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – originally released on the PS2 in 2004 – Okamura spoke about wanting to bring back the classic for a new audience. He also spoke about the importance of bringing back the franchise for an audience that hasn’t really grown up with a mainline title since the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain in 2015.
“It’s a very black and white answer for us: Because we’re getting old,” explained Okamura. “We only have a few years left out of us to make a game, right? And one of the things that we noticed, and what really kicked off this project, is that we started seeing a huge wave of new gamers that [weren’t] even aware or didn’t even [know] Metal Gear before. And [we] were like, ‘We need to do something about this because we wanted to carry on the legacy.’”
He also spoke about the fact that Konami is looking at bringing in a new generation of game developers, and using the development of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater as a way to train them to build up the future of the series. With the remake, his focus is on building a team that has learned how to make a Metal Gear game that can then “carry on the legacy on our behalf.”
“So, one of the reasons why we brought in a lot of fresh meat — all the new, younger developers — is because, not only did we want to give them a chance to figure out how to create and develop a Metal Gear game, but also give them a chance to experience the game themselves,” Okamura continued. “And we’ll still be here for a while, but right now the goal is to build a team that could carry on the legacy on our behalf and could produce, hopefully in the future, more exciting games.”
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details about the title, check out our review.
