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You may or may not have heard, but apparently Hideo Kojima, the mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and Konami, Metal Gear's publisher, have had some sort of falling out.  If the reports are to be believed, then Kojima will be leaving Konami once MGSV: Phantom Pain releases later this year.  As it is, he's classified as an outside contractor now.  Kojima has always said he wanted to work on new things, but Konami's reliance on the series (and his inability to leave the series in other peoples' hands) has always led him back.  When he said that Phantom Pain would be his last Metal Gear, many fans rolled their eyes and took it with a grain of salt, but it looks like it may be true.  Not only that, but Konami has gone so far as to erase his name from everything he was a part of--his team, studio, credit on all of Phantom Pain's logo and marketing, even the game's twitter account.  And today, Konami announced that they were searching for a team to make a new Metal Gear, when they should be focused on the one that isn't even out yet.  This kind of stuff doesn't happen if there's an amicable split.

For fans of Kojima and Metal Gear in general, this is very disturbing news.  Kojima created the series and has been the brainchild behind every main entry.  A Metal Gear game without him would just not be the same.  He was also supposed to resurrect the Silent Hill franchise (the gaming world couldn't stop talking about its teaser, simply titled P.T. last year), and Zone of the Enders fans have been holding out hope for a new game in that series.  But all that is in jeopardy if these rumors are true.

Kojima has been known to create elaborate hoaxes in order to promote his games, so this may just be one big ruse (at least fans hope so), but if not, then it truly is a sad day for the series.  Konami owns some of the most revered IP in gaming, but lately has not found much success sustaining those series.  The aforementioned Silent Hill has wallowed in mediocrity ever since Team Silent disbanded, Castlevania found some recent success with Lords of Shadow (produced by Kojima no less), but it lacked the distinct feel of the older, Koji Igarashi-produced titles, and the sequel didn't do as well as expected.  Do today's gamers even know about Contra, Suikoden, or Gradius?  The point is, once a creator has left his/her stamp on a series and decides to leave or is forced out, Konami doesn't do a great job finding high quality replacements.

So what's next?  Well, if you're a Metal Gear fan, I hope you enjoy the hell out of Phantom Pain and cherish it, because at this point, nobody knows quite yet.