New Metal Gear Game Talk Rises as Solid Snake Actor Wants Kojima Back

Image: IGDB

Akio Otsuka wants Metal Gear to continue, but his Kojima line still stands

Akio Otsuka, the Japanese voice actor closely associated with Snake across the Metal Gear Solid series, has said he wants Konami to make another Metal Gear game for fans around the world, while also reaffirming that he personally does not want to work on a Metal Gear project without Hideo Kojima involved.

That tension is the story. This is not a new Metal Gear game announcement, not a confirmed rumor, and not evidence that Kojima is returning to the franchise. It is a rare public statement from one of the series’ defining performers that captures where much of the audience still sits: hungry for the Metal Gear Solid future, but wary of what a post-Kojima Metal Gear should be.

According to Video Games Chronicle, Otsuka told Japanese publication Bunshun that there are Metal Gear fans all over the world waiting for another entry, adding in translation that Konami should make “one more” for them. IGN’s translation of the same interview frames Otsuka as keen for another Metal Gear, while conflicted by the idea of a fresh entry without Kojima. Power Up Gaming, meanwhile, highlights the other side of the quote: Otsuka’s continued lack of interest in making Metal Gear without the creator’s involvement.

Those readings are not mutually exclusive. Otsuka appears to be separating the desire for the series to live on from his own stated boundary as a performer. For players searching for news on a new Metal Gear game, the confirmed development is simple: one of Snake’s most important actors wants the franchise to return, but there is no public project attached to his comments.

The quote lands because Otsuka is tied to almost every Snake

Otsuka’s words carry unusual weight because he is not a distant observer of Metal Gear. VGC describes him as the Japanese voice actor for Solid Snake, Naked Snake, Solidus Snake, and Venom Snake across the Metal Gear Solid series. IGN also notes his work as Snake’s Japanese voice and motion capture actor, including memories from Metal Gear Solid 4 involving his father, Chikao Otsuka, who voiced Big Boss in that game’s finale while Akio Otsuka handled performance capture.

In the Bunshun interview, as reported by IGN, Otsuka recalled that Solid Snake’s Japanese version of “Kept you waiting, huh?” was an ad-lib during recording and was later used in advertising. That detail matters because Metal Gear’s identity has always lived in the seam between authored cinema and strange, actor-driven texture. The codename, the gravelly delivery, the pause before a codec reply, the sudden gearshift from spy thriller to operatic family tragedy: performances helped give Kojima’s stealth-action grammar its pulse.

That is why Otsuka’s comments read like a fan-demand signal rather than standard nostalgia. He is speaking as someone who helped build the cadence of Metal Gear, not simply someone who appeared in it. When he says the series should continue for fans, the statement resonates with players who still see Snake’s voice as part of the machinery of the game itself.

The Kojima condition is the unresolved pressure point

Otsuka’s admiration for Kojima is explicit in the source material. VGC reports that he spoke emotionally about Kojima leaving Konami, building Kojima Productions, receiving support from Sony, and completing Death Stranding after what Otsuka described as a difficult independent transition. IGN’s translation says Otsuka “burst into tears” when Death Stranding was completed and announced for release, because he believed Kojima had carried serious creative and financial risk after leaving Konami.

That emotional history feeds directly into Otsuka’s Metal Gear stance. VGC reports that Otsuka previously said on the YouTube show Mori no Su that he never wanted to work on another Metal Gear Solid game if Kojima was not involved. In the newer Bunshun interview, he reaffirmed the core of that position, saying that while voice actors generally do what they are asked to do, Metal Gear was created by Director Kojima and Otsuka takes pride in helping build it. IGN translates him as saying, “I don’t want to do a Metal Gear that doesn’t involve Kojima,” and adds that he said he cannot take that back.

That is where the future becomes complicated. Otsuka can call for Konami to make another game for fans, but a Kojima Metal Gear return remains unsupported by any announcement in the provided sources. IGN goes further by saying that, given the far from amicable split between Konami and Kojima, it seems unlikely Kojima will helm another Metal Gear Solid game. That is IGN’s assessment, not a formal statement from Konami or Kojima Productions.

When asked whether he had told Kojima he wanted him to make another Metal Gear, Otsuka replied, according to IGN, “I’ll leave that to your imagination.” That is a tease in tone, but it is not a leak. It confirms neither talks, nor a pitch, nor development, nor licensing movement between Kojima Productions and Konami.

Konami’s current Metal Gear path is revival through remakes and collections

The context around Otsuka’s comments is that Metal Gear is active again, but not through a new original mainline entry. FRVR describes Konami’s current handling of the franchise as being focused on remakes and remasters, while noting that fans are still waiting for a brand-new game. The same report says Otsuka returned alongside the Western cast for pickup work connected to Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

IGN’s source page also places the story in the orbit of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and references screenshots for a Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 February 2026 State of Play trailer. FRVR says Metal Gear Solid 4 has been freed from its PlayStation 3 exclusivity through remaster efforts, and frames the Master Collection line as part of Konami’s renewed activity around the series.

That strategy makes business sense on the surface. A remake teaches a new internal or partner team how Metal Gear scenes, stealth pacing, alert states, boss structure, and cinematic escalation are supposed to function without asking that team to solve the hardest problem immediately: inventing a post-Kojima Metal Gear identity from scratch. FRVR reports that one reason Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was created was to teach a new generation of developers how to make a game in the series.

Still, remaking Snake Eater and curating collections is different from building a new entry. A new Metal Gear game would have to answer questions that remasters can avoid. Which Snake, if any, leads it? Does it continue the old timeline, fill a gap, or start over? Does it chase the systemic openness of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the dense authored set-pieces of earlier games, or something else entirely? None of the provided sources say Konami has announced answers to those questions.

A Kojima-led return is the fantasy, but the confirmed signal is fan appetite

The cleanest way to read Otsuka’s comments is as demand, not evidence. Fans want Metal Gear back. Otsuka believes fans around the world have waited patiently. Multiple outlets covering the Bunshun interview agree that he sees value in another game, even as they emphasize different halves of his position.

VGC and GamesRadar frame the comments around Otsuka believing Konami should continue the series, even if Kojima is not involved. Power Up Gaming frames them around his refusal to personally make Metal Gear without Kojima. IGN lands between those poles, describing him as eager for a new game but conflicted by any entry lacking Kojima. The apparent conflict comes from the same underlying contradiction: he wants the series to serve its audience, but his own loyalty remains tied to Kojima’s authorship.

For GameLoop readers, the important distinction is that the phrase “Kojima Metal Gear” still belongs in the realm of hope, interpretation, and fan pressure. Otsuka’s “I’ll leave that to your imagination” answer may keep the dream alive for players who want one last Kojima-led infiltration, but no source material here confirms that Kojima Productions, Konami, Sony, Xbox, or any other party is developing such a project.

The stronger confirmed signal is cultural rather than corporate. Metal Gear’s audience has not moved on, and one of Snake’s most recognizable performers is openly acknowledging that desire. In a franchise built on impossible missions, that is enough to restart conversation. It is not enough to start a preorder page.

What to watch before believing any new Metal Gear report

Right now, there is no release date, platform list, price, trailer, rating-board listing, store page, or publisher announcement for a brand-new Metal Gear Solid entry in the provided sources. Players should treat Otsuka’s comments as public sentiment from a major franchise actor, not as a development update.

The next credible signs would be official communication from Konami, a named development studio, a platform-holder showcase appearance, or a public listing tied to a specific title. A rating-board appearance or store-page change could become meaningful later, but none is included in the supplied material for a new original Metal Gear game. FRVR mentions rumors of a possible Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 3, including alleged remasters of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, but that is described as rumor and should be treated separately from talk of a new entry.

For now, the practical guidance is to separate three tracks. Metal Gear Solid Delta and the Master Collection line are the visible revival path. Otsuka’s comments are a performer’s call for the series to continue for fans. A Kojima Metal Gear comeback remains unannounced.

If Konami ever does move from preservation to a new Metal Gear game, the studio will be judged on the exact qualities Otsuka’s comments bring back into focus: authorship, trust, voice, and rhythm. Metal Gear is at its best when stealth encounters feel like stagecraft, when combat pressure rises from a quiet crawl to a siren-lit scramble, and when the set-piece knows the player is both soldier and audience. Recreating that without Kojima would be a high-risk mission. Bringing Kojima back would be the headline fans dream about, but today, it is still only a dream.