At GamesBeat, Jeff Grubb reports that Solid metal gear and Death stranding Developer Hideo Kojima has signed a “letter of intent” with Microsoft to create a game based on Microsoft’s cloud technology.

Grubb writes:

“Hideo Kojima and Microsoft signed a letter of intent stating that the two sides intend to work out the details of a release deal for a new Xbox game, according to people familiar with the matter. This is a key step in the negotiations between the creator of Metal Gear Solid and the Xbox company. This means that the two sides have reached a general agreement while lawyers continue to discuss the finer points.

“The Microsoft and Kojima teams have spent months discussing a possible partnership, and now it’s more likely than ever that these conversations will bear fruit. The deal is so close that Microsoft has started to prepare for what Kojima will need to make its new game.

Grubb also notes that veteran developer Kim Swift was hired by Microsoft. Swift previously worked on Valve franchises Portal and Left for dead.

“Last week Microsoft announced that it has hired Portal and Left 4 Dead developer Kim Swift to oversee partnerships for cloud-based games. Swift recently worked for Google’s cloud gaming service Stadia. Microsoft hired her to help make Kojima’s cloud gaming a reality. “

Microsoft and Kojima are no strangers. Previous Kojima titles have been announced during Xbox storefronts, for example. Although Sony quickly got Kojima to work on Death stranding after leaving Konami, Kojima remained independent.

While I doubt this new gaming partnership between Microsoft and Kojima Productions has anything to do with Metal gear, it made me think. Konami appears to be intending to do very little with the franchise as the Japanese publisher has largely left the video game realm behind and is focusing on the large and lucrative Pachinko machine business.

So why isn’t Microsoft buying the franchise? If Microsoft could obtain the rights to Metal gear and put Kojima back at the helm, making it all to come Metal gear Xbox / PC exclusive games and bringing all past titles to Xbox Game Pass, it would be a significant victory in the console wars. It would also ensure that the beloved video game series has a future that would be good for fans, even if Sony fans were left out of the equation.

It would definitely be a huge win for the Xbox Series X and, perhaps more importantly, Xbox Game Pass. Whether Konami would sell, of course, remains an unknown question. But Microsoft has used its purchasing power a lot in recent years, and everyone comes at a price.

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