People have longed joke about it, but it looks like it may actually be happening- Konami has today filed trademark for Big Boss, and it seems as though this is a trademark for a new Metal Gear themed pachinko machine from them. Yes, Metal Gear will indeed live on, even after the departure of series creator Hideo Kojima- but it will live on as a gambling machine.
The trademark filing itself indicates this- the mark is for slot machines and pachinko, alongside the expected games and trading card games classifications. So, any hopes you had of a full scale AAA budget new Metal Gear game should probably be laid to rest for the time being- for now, it seems as though rumors that Konami is exiting AAA game development were right after all.
On the plus side, I bet the new Pachinko machine will still have a better story than the absolute, utter mess that was Metal Gear Solid V!