Konami is committed to console game development and the Metal Gear franchise can continue without Hideo Kojima leading it, the company's senior UK community manager Graham Day has said.
In a new interview with GameOn Daily, which you can watch above, Day explained that Konami, "said in the past previously that obviously the Metal Gear brand will continue".
Asked directly if it can do so without Kojima, he replied, "Yeah, course it can. Metal Gear is about the story, it's about the characters and I think, yeah… Look at things like Metal Gear Rising. That was an example of the title being taken in a new direction by separate teams with obviously hands-in from other parties. And that was in itself a very, very good game as well, and that was obviously led by a completely different team."
There have been consistent reports this year about Kojima leaving the company, something neither he nor Konami have confirmed, though the publisher did announce it was hiring "main staff to lead the development" of a new game in the Metal Gear franchise.
Kojima's contract is believed to expire in December, and he's expected to leave the company following a "power struggle". French site Gameblog reported earlier this month that a new Metal Gear is not "actually being prepared at any level whatsoever", adding that PES is the only AAA franchise in active development at Konami.
"All current console projects have been stopped or cancelled by the new management," Gameblog's reports commented and the story was backed up by Eurogamer, which said it understood the news to be correct..
However, Day added in his interview that Konami's view of console development "never changed".
"Don't believe everything you read in the press," he said, adding that the developer is still committed to AAA gaming. "That's never changed. Things have been taken out of context but that's never changed."
"Konami has a history of making the best games around and that is something that will continue," later in the interview he commented. "That won't change anything going forward. So people should believe in Konami, and if I was to use a tagline, PES 2016's tagline is 'Love the past, play the future'. And that is there for a reason. The future isn't ending now. The future has a long, long way."
