Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a full remake because it has to "stand strong enough on its own merits for new players to enjoy"

A screenshot from the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.
(Image credit: Konami)

During last night's PlayStation State of Play, the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was confirmed. Producer Noriaki Okamura also shares some insights into how the decision to fully remake the game came about.

"We've heard from many, many fans that they want to see the Metal Gear series back in action," Okamura writes on a PlayStation blog post. Metal Gear is a legendary series, but it's been ten years since the last numbered entry, so the team noticed there were "more and more players who had never played a Metal Gear game, or even heard of one."

That realization is what led to the decision to remake Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater rather than just remaster the 2004 game with more modern graphics. "We just didn't think it would be satisfying to play if that was the only update," Okamura explains. "So in the end we remade nearly all the animations, and found ways to refresh almost every facet of the game, as well as fully realizing elements that were held back by technical limitations at the time of the original."

A 21-year-old game with modern graphics but PS2-era animations would have looked very uncanny, so I think the decision to do a full remake makes sense. But for those of you worried that this won't be the Snake Eater you know and love, Okamura has already thought of that.

"We knew that not only would this remake need to satisfy Metal Gear fans, it would also have to stand strong enough on its own merits for new players to enjoy," he writes. "We decided to take the approach of modernizing the gameplay only where it was really needed, and otherwise preserve the original experience of the game as faithfully as possible."

Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater - Release Date Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater - Release Date Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube
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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater comes out August 28, 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Pre-orders are live now and some versions of the game come with bonuses such as additional uniforms for Snake to wear and some masks for him to utilize.

If you can't wait until August, check out all the video game release dates for the year to see what's coming sooner.

Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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