Metal Gear Solid is often ranked among the all time greats in gaming, with entries like Snake Eater and The Phantom Pain raking in top honors upon release. While sitting at the top of the video game pantheon at one point in terms of quality, matters have taken a grim turn for the series ever since Konami cut ties with Hideo Kojima, the creator of the iconic stealth franchise.
Especially after the negative reviews for Metal Gear Survive and controversial Konami pachinko machines for Metal Gear Solid, many fans feel the beloved series should be handed off to another developer to be treated with better care going forward. Luckily, several other studios in the gaming industry are experienced in delivering high quality games with similar gameplay, tone and production value to Metal Gear Solid.
Bluepoint Games
After gracing gamers with two excellent remakes back to back, with Shadow of the Colossus and the PlayStation 5's must have launch title Demon's Souls, many are wondering what Bluepoint has in store for the future. Considering the studio's reputation for reimagining beloved classics, rumors have begun making the rounds that Bluepoint is sneaking its way into Sony's PS1 library. Bluepoint may bring back the original Metal Gear Solid into the modern day with a shiny new coat of paint.
If a recent fan remake of Metal Gear Solid in Unreal Engine is anything to go by, bringing this iconic classic up to modern standards is sure to impress gamers the same way it did back in 1998. If this hypothetical remake turns out to be true and based on Bluepoint's past efforts, the studio would do well with permanently handling the responsibility for future games set in the Metal Gear Solid franchise going forward, whether it be a remake, new installment or otherwise.
Kojima Productions
An obvious adopter of the Metal Gear Solid IP would be for it to reunite with its original creator, Hideo Kojima, at Kojima Productions. Nobody understands the series better than the father of the whole franchise after all. Considering Death Stranding was similar to Metal Gear Solid in a number of ways, both gameplay-wise and tonally, Mr. Kojima clearly hasn't lost touch with what made his stealth mega-hit so popular to begin with.
Hideo Kojima was often held back from his many ambitious ideas in the past, with Konami even cutting content from MGS5 before its launch. If Hideo Kojima were to be handed back full control over his flagship franchise, especially with gaming technology going forward, the future of the series would surely look bright.
IO Interactive
Although a far more methodical, trial-and-error approach to stealth based gameplay, the Hitman series still has close enough similarities to the adventures of Solid Snake to ensure that developer IO Interactive would feel right at home taking on a Metal Gear Solid game. The right developer needs to understand how to create interesting locations to sneak through, which IO Interactive clearly understands with Hitman. So much care and attention is put into these games that it is easy to miss the smallest details in a Hitman title.
One such commonality aside from the obvious stealth gameplay is that both franchises maintain a subtle, often dark sense of humor in both character interactions and specific story moments. With IO Interactive working on a James Bond game, the studio is building up a strong credibility and trust to be handed outside franchises, which should ease any concern of them possibly handling Metal Gear Solid.
Ubisoft
Home to not one, but two of the most popular stealth action franchises in gaming with both Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell under its belt, Ubisoft would be another solid choice for Metal Gear Solid. Recent Assassin's Creed games have delivered huge open worlds with varied objectives all while maintaining the same stealth roots of its predecessors, making them mechanically similar to the approach taken with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
Should the decision be made to continue the Metal Gear Solid series as an open world experience, Ubisoft would be a more than competent and experienced developer to undertake such a huge challenge. Splinter Cell has been referenced in Metal Gear Solid games multiples times, showing a respect for the Ubisoft series, so maybe the Canadian based developer can return the favor and bring the series back to its former glory.