Yet, surely Konami have some plan to appease their fanbase and clarify the future of the MGS series beyond Survive? As much as we’ve heard fans cry to boycott IPs and publishers in the past after various instances, if Konami made the right moves, they could have gone some way to rekindling some sort of interest from fans.
After the rumours that MGS V’s third chapter was axed by Konami due to time constraints, releasing additional story DLC for MGS V would have been a good start. A risky undertaking certainly, but even if it was the briefest of additional narrative, it would have gone some way to prove to fans that Konami was serious about a future for the series beyond Kojima.
One would have thought another obvious plan would be to remaster of the entire series a’la Capcom with Resident Evil. Yes, it’s another cash in on the franchise name, and yes, remastering/remaking old games is becoming a tiring, uncreative way for publishers to make money, but in this instance, it’s a remake most fans probably want to see.
Leave the voice acting (or get the entire cast back on board), the cinematic direction and the linearity; simply remake the games in the FOX engine with some minor tweaks to modernize gameplay. That way fans won’t upset that Kojima’s work is being creatively tampered with, and Konami is guaranteed to make money.
Unfortunately, in the end, the priority has apparently been a low development cost alternative, of which the intention seems likely to have been multiplayer micro-transactions, as opposed to engaging content. And that is the issue here; Konami’s reputation might be down in the dumps, but don’t overestimate the consumer’s ability to resist quality content. If Konami made the effort, there is a way to more delicately use the MGS IP, or indeed any of Konami’s list of much beloved IP’s to appease fans and make money at the same time.
Instead, we have Survive; a ludicrous spinoff that looks totally removed from MGS canon and is immensely disheartening for fans of the franchise. So far, then, Konami’s promise of remaining within the AAA game development scene has been entirely unconvincing.
Now more than ever, the lack of transparency about the future of MGS, AAA game development and the dealings with Kojima desperately need to be addressed. Whether it is a remaster series, story DLC for MGS V, Silent Hill, or an entirely new IP; Konami must prioritize some sort of initiative in which fan-service is the imperative, otherwise the brand is unlikely to ever recover.