Almost a year ago, Hideo Kojima announced that "Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the last chapter in the franchise" and that it would "solve all unanswered MGS questions". Back then we explicitly downplayed that announcement.
Today, Metal Gear associate producer Ryan Payton confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 4 won't be the last chapter in the franchise, but that it would mark the end for the Solid Snake.
"I think there's been some misconceptions that this is the last Metal Gear", said Payton. "This is really just the last chapter of the saga of the Solid Snake story."
Payton went on to say that MGS4 will tie up all the loose ends of Solid Snake's story once and for all, allowing Kojima to put the character of Solid Snake behind him. "[Solid Snake] was a burden [for Kojima] because of all those loose ends. So when you play Metal Gear Solid 4 and when you get to the end, I think you're going to feel that 'wow, this is a nice closure.' All of the weird stuff that's gone on in the past, it's all coming to an end. All those weird questions -- everything is answered."
