Metal Gear Solidis a franchise in somewhat of a limbo. With the departure of series creator Hideo Kojima from Konami after the release ofMetal Gear Solid 5,the future of the franchise without its creator has been in question. The plannedMetal Gear Solidboard game being cancelled has been another disappointment for many fans of the franchise that had been excited about a tabletop spin-off for the stealth series. The game’s cancellation is not a good sign for the series' future in general.
TheMetal Gear Solidboard game was cancelledin December of 2020. With extended production time and nearly a year without any updates on the project, the cancellation came as not much of a shock. The game’s designer, Emerson Matsuuchi, has hopes to find a way to still bring the tabletop adaptation to life, but is forthcoming about its how unlikely that may be.Metal Gear Solidhas been dormant since the release ofMetal Gear Survive, and the cancellation of the board game adaptation doesn’t inspire much faith in fans that the franchise will be making a triumphant return anytime soon.
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The dormancy of theMetal Gearfranchise has been a thorn in the side of many fans of the stealth-centric series for several years now. Whilerumors aboutMetal Gear Solidremakeshave been swirling, specifically that Konami will outsource the project, there hasn’t been any concrete info about proving those rumors true. Many fans of the tactical espionage series had been holding out hope for the board game adaptation over its slow production cycle. It would have been the first official release for the franchise since the disappointing release ofMetal Gear Survive. Its cancellation might say a lot about the future ofMetal Gearthat fans don’t want to hear.
Kojima having moved on to other independent projects likeDeath Strandingmade many fans apprehensive about where theMetal Gearseries could go without its creator on board. Some fans were already let down byKojima’s promises forMetal Gear Solid 5, but overall the game was well-received despite some of its narrative issues. The tense parting between Konami and Kojima has made many fans worry about the franchise’s future even to this day. As time has passed since the release ofMetal Gear Solid 5, and the release ofMetal Gear Survive, that trepidation seems more and more warranted as years go by without any official release in any medium.
The cancellation of a board game adaptation is especially troubling for a couple specific reasons. While this isn’t to say that developing and creating the board game was any less an undertaking, the production costs for a board game are much lower than those associated with a AAA video game likeMetal Gear Solid. It’s worth noting that the board game market is more niche than that of video games, though theMetal Gear Solidboard game’s cancellation came partly due to production costs.
This could be seen as a barometer for the risk Konami is willing to undertake with theMetal Gear Solidlicense. The cancellation of theMetal Gear Solidboard game is bad news for fans, and could be the canary in the coal mine for the franchise, leaving fans with not much but the lukewarmsend-off to the series that wasMetal Gear Solid 5.
