A new Metal Slug game is apparently currently in development for consoles.

This piece of news comes from an investor relations report for the SNK corporation via another report by Ruliweb. The original report is in Japanese, but a Twitter user has since translated it to reveal that not only is there a new Metal Slug in development, but also a Neo Geo Version 2 and 3.

This Metal Slug is apparently an all-new release, and not at all linked with the mobile game currently being developed by mobile giant Tencent. This may come as a somewhat good surprise to Metal Slug fans everywhere, as there have been reservations regarding Tencent’s handling of its mobile game releases.

If all goes well, SNK’s Metal Slug, which has not been titled as of yet, may be the first main Metal Slug release following 2008’s Metal Slug 7. The series has a very loyal following, and some purists to this day still own original Neo Geos to play with. It certainly helps that the game has somewhat of a timeless quality and rather simplistic gameplay elements. I still fondly remember playing Metal Slug X on the original PlayStation years ago, and sitting in amazement that I can easily keep playing even after I lose all my lives by simply hitting ‘CONTINUE’.

Photo: SNK

SNK seems to also be banking hard on the loyalty of its fanbase, as it is also planning to develop an actual successor to the Neo Geo console, which are named “Neo Geo Version 2 and 3” for now. There are still little details regarding these machines, other than the fact that it is a semi-open platform and that it is not related to the current Neo Geo Mini. It’s safe to say, though, that the development of these machines most likely stem from the fact that the Neo Geo Mini was a success.

Also worth noting in the original report is the recent success of the modest hit SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy which has sold around 300,000 copies to date. SNK’s next big release is the upcoming Samurai Shodown, another personal favorite PlayStation game of mine, which is due to be released this June 27, 2019 on the PS4 and the Xbox One, with planned releases also coming to the arcade, Nintendo Switch and PC sometime later this year.