We have some unfortunate news for Metal Gear fans who enjoyed playing as the series’ iconic main protagonist, Solid Snake, in 2008’s Wii exclusive Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Seeing how the next Super Smash Bros. game is still apparently on track for release on the Wii U and 3DS sometime later this year, and we’ve been seeing many character reveals via the game’s official website, one may notice that so far, Snake hasn’t been among the confirmed returning characters. As it turns out, there may be a good reason for that.
In a recent interview, Metal Gear creator and longtime director Hideo Kojima was apparently asked about the possibility of Snake resurfacing in either upcoming game. He issued the following quote in response:
“I’m not working on that game, but I don’t think it’s likely (Snake will return). If Mr. Sakurai is watching this, hopefully we see Snake.”
For those who don’t know, Kojima was referring to Masahiro Sakurai, who is the creator of the Super Smash Bros. series and director of both games currently in development.
While Kojima’s statement doesn’t flat-out confirm that Snake will be a no-show, it does lend credibility to the possibility. Brawl‘s other surprise third-party character, Sonic the Hedgehog, was already confirmed to be returning some time ago. Aside from that, wouldn’t it be rather odd of Nintendo and Metal Gear publisher Konami to agree to license Snake again without at least mentioning it to the head of his originating franchise?
We will continue to post updates, including character confirmations both new and returning, for Super Smash Bros. as they drop.