Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater was one of the biggest announcements from the recent PlayStation Showcase, and IGN had the chance to speak to the team behind the game to learn more about exactly what this remake is.
While the team wasn’t ready to reveal everything about Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, which doesn’t currently have a release date, they were ready to talk a bit about if Hideo Kojima or Yoji Shinkawa had any involvement in the project, if there will be more remakes from the Metal Gear series, and more.
Who Is Making Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, and Is Hideo Kojima Involved?
One of the biggest questions many had after the announcement was whether Metal Gear Solid 3 director Hideo Kojima was involved in the project. There wasn’t much hope that Kojima was going to be a part of the project, especially after his breakup with Konami, but it was a question nonetheless.
We also asked if Yoji Shinkawa was involved, as he was integral in the art of the Metal Gear Solid series and is now working with Kojima at Kojima Productions.
“They are not involved,” a Konami spokesperson said. “However, the development team will work hard to create this remake and also the ports (for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection) so that they can be enjoyed on multiple platforms by even more players all around the world.”
For those unfamiliar, the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 was announced alongside Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater and it includes the original Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Metal Gear 1 and 2. The collection will arrive in Fall 2023.
So, who is working on the remake? As it turns out, the “central role” will be taken on by Konami developers who have been “involved in the production of the past [games in the] Metal Gear series.” These devs will be working with Virtuos, a studio who has also been “involved in the production of previous entries in the Metal Gear series.” This confirms earlier rumors that Virtuos, which has worked on everything from Dark Souls Remastered to Uncharted 4, was involved with the remake.
We then asked why the team chose to start with Metal Gear Solid 3 as opposed to the first Metal Gear Solid, and it all seemed to boil down to the fact that this third entry is actually the spark of the larger Metal Gear tale.
“We chose Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater because it depicts the birth of BIG BOSS (Naked Snake), which is the starting point of the Metal Gear series,” a Konami spokesperson said. “Another reason is that many fans have been requesting a remake of this game for a long time.”
The fans also appear to be a big factor as to whether there will be future Metal Gear remakes or even brand-new games. Konami was careful not to mention new games despite us asking, but it did share that, “regarding remakes of previous games in the series other than Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, we will listen to player demand and consider accordingly.”
Why Metal Gear Solid Δ over Metal Gear Solid 3?
Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater is obviously a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, and we began by asking why they chose to go with the Delta symbol instead of just calling it Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Remake of something similar. Konami gave a brief explanation on Twitter about why it made this decision, and the devs elaborated a little more in our chat.
“The Delta symbol (Δ) was chosen because its meaning fits the concept of the remake project,” a Konami spokesperson said. “Delta is a character from the Greek alphabet that means ‘change’ or ‘difference’ in mathematics and variables, and also has the meaning of changing an amount without changing the structure.”
Speaking of changes, Konami confirmed it isn’t going to update or alter the story in the remake. We here at IGN aren’t too upset about that as the story was one of the main reasons we placed Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater at the top of our rankings of Kojima’s Metal Gear games in 2015.
“And then there’s that ending,” we said of Metal Gear Solid 3’s story. “A gut punch of a conclusion to a story that retroactively sets the entire franchise in motion. Love, honor, betrayal and all the best bits of Metal Gear Solid, wrapped up in one beautifully camouflaged package.”
Recasting Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was one of the more controversial decisions of that game, but Konami isn’t going to shake the boat in that department either and has shared that all the character’s voices from the original game will be the same in the remake. As for whether this means that more Metal Gear Solid remakes are on the way, we’ll just have to see.
“Regarding remakes of previous games in the series other than Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, we will listen to player demand and consider accordingly,” Konami said.
For more, check out why we believe Metal Gear Solid 3 is the right game to remake first, our side-by-side comparison of the remake and the original, and everything else that was announced at the PlayStation Showcase.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.