There’s a new rumor going around that Konami has big plans coming for this year.
As reported by PSU, the Video Games Chronicle podcast revealed that Konami is looking to relaunch both the Metal Gear and Castlevania games, and they are doing so in a big way.
Castlevania is getting its first new original game since Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. It’s been nearly a decade since that release, but the property received a ton of mainstream exposure thanks to Netflix’s Castlevania animated series. Starting in 2017, the show is produced by Aditya Shankar, and most notably, written by veteran comics scribe Warren Ellis.
This upcoming video game could use the Netflix show as a base. It would be a welcome move for Castlevania fans, as the franchise’s most recent outing, the Lords of Shadow series, were financially successful but too much of a departure from the game’s conventions for many of its most loyal fans.
Interestingly enough, the Castlevania Netflix show is remarkably loyal to the series’ original canon. So it wouldn’t be unlikely if these new games were sequels or remakes of the games where its protagonists took the spotlight: Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse for Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Alucard.
The other rumored game in development is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The funny thing about this rumor is, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was in fact the last Metal Gear game that received a remake, as Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for the 3DS all the way back in 2012.
Fans are likely to more fondly remember Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, which released for the PlayStation 3 a year later. This was Kojima’s attempt to make a definitive collection of the Metal Gear games, as it bundled many of those games in one package, with the intent to create a singular narrative through the games. Kojima produced a total of 8 games and two graphic novels, each remade or remastered as Kojima deemed appropriate.
That release was impressive, but also somewhat of a mess. Kojima’s attempt to tie the series together wasn’t ultimately successful at cleaning up all the loose ends. On another level, this bundle cost too much to produce to make its money back, if it had sold well at all.
Without Kojima, Konami is looking to make a more viable release plan, but this may also mean better versions of these games, with truly updated controls and everything. We reported on rumors that Konami had tapped Singaporean studio Virtuos for the task of this remake. Later, Virtuos shared job openings that confirmed they took on Konami as a client.
If this works out, Konami may produce more remakes of Metal Gear games, perhaps in the same way Capcom has handled their Resident Evil remakes. But there’s also a rumor that a remake of Metal Gear Solid is already in production as well.
It all certainly sounds too good to be true, so it may be best to temper expectations until we get more evidence or confirmation from Konami.
