Japanese gaming icon Konami may be looking to reboot the Metal Gear Solid series as it continues its return into the gaming landscape.

While Konami has invested in remasters via the MGS Master Collection re-releases and even remade Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for its Delta incarnation last year, there’s no news of new games in the series.

Last year, Metal Gear Solid producer Noriaki Okamura explained that the creation of the Snake Eater remake was to teach a new generation of developers how to make an MGS game. But what is the plan for the future of Metal Gear, especially now that they’ve run out of games to remaster?

In an interview with Nikkei Gaming, Konami Digital Entertainment president Hideki Hayakawa explained that the company is looking to continue expanding its presence in gaming. Alongside Silent HIll’s annual output, the company has “a variety of titles in the pipeline” including games based on iconic IPs and new IPs entirely.

“Another key title is Rev. NOiR, a completely new IP announced in February. It is an RPG for game consoles that we plan to release globally. We have high expectations that players around the world will be very excited about it,” the Konami president said.

Hayakwawa explained that Konami is actively rebooting IPs to bring them to new gamers, and Metal Gear’s future is a part of that. “We concluded that rebooting these properties would be an effective way to make the most of them,” he said. “In addition to METAL GEAR, SILENT HILL, and Momotaro Dentetsu, we are also actively developing Castlevania (known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula).”

If the term rebooting is being used as many other studios use it, this would mark the first instance of Konami actually rebooting the Metal Gear IP. While many ignore the series’ 2D origins, Metal Gear Solid was a 3D sequel to the MSX original games, and the story continues all the way up until Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

While it’s not entirely clear what Konami’s plans are, it seems likely that the future of Metal Gear would follow a similar vein to that of Silent Hill which has become more successful than ever. Alongside remakes, which could be seen as reboots, of the original games, new teams are making brand-new stories unconnected to the originals.

Whatever the case, it’s clear that fans are eagerly awaiting more Metal Gear, even if it’s without the direction of series master Hideo Kojima. At the time of writing, it’s been 11 years since the release of Metal Gear Solid V (ouch), and it’s about time we get another solid entry in the series.