Metal Gear Solid creator and series director Hideo Kojima has a couple different ideas about the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 5, but he doesn't want to use any of them.

"I have three concepts for MGS5 already," he told 1up. "What would be ideal for me with MGS5, though, is that we don't do those. If the team picks one of those concepts, I have to get involved again, which I don't want to do."

Kojima has repeatedly tried to step away from his involvement with the Metal Gear Solid games. After Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2), he claimed that he was finished with the series--only to direct the recently released sequel Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3).

Instead, he hopes the Kojima Productions team will pursue one of the "many good ideas" it has come up with for the stealth-action sequel. "At that point I could really rely on them and take the step back to be the producer, which is the ideal situation," he said.

"I want to create something new, and it's difficult to explain since no one's seen it before," Kojima concluded. "I don't know if it would sell very well. I've been warming this up for a long time, and I keep thinking that I'll try this idea. But ideas always change, so I really don't know what the final outcome will be."

Mere weeks after ex-MGS4 producer Ryan Payton confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is on the way from developer Kojima Productions, publisher Konami has filed a trademark for the phrase Metal Gear Solid Existence.

The registration, uncovered by Siliconera, lacked any other relevant details, though applications for the Existence trademark were made in both the US and Japan.

Kojima Productions recently brought the series' stealth-action antics to the PlayStation 3 through this year's long-awaited release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

While MGS4 was said to conclude the storyline of series protagonist Solid Snake, Payton previously stated that the series would not end there, later noting that the franchise had "a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as [series antagonist and MGS3 lead] Big Boss is concerned."

Following teases of a new entry in the stealth-action series, now-former Kojima Productions employee Ryan Payton has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 5 is on the way.

"It'll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I've got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game," Payton told Kotaku in an interview regarding his departure.

In addition to handling the studio's podcast, Payton served as a producer for Metal Gear Solid: Portal Ops (PSP) and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3).

Meanwhile, series creator Hideo Kojima expressed his thoughts on multiplatform development and noted his frustration with constant inquiries regarding the oft-rumored possibility of Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox 360.

"Because MGS4 was optimized for the PS3 it is probably not possible... Read more