Solid Snake’s story is finished, but that doesn’t mean Konami is going to seal the Metal Gear Solid franchise in an early grave. The first sign of a new Metal Gear Solid game comes from the Japanese Trademark database where Konami registered Metal Gear Existence with the boring image on the right. It’s made to be used with video games so it’s likely, very likely, the name of a future Metal Gear Solid game. Going by the title alone it sounds like we’re going to visit the existence – or origins of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. So, will this be another game starring Big Boss? Let the wild pre-Tokyo Game Show speculation begin!

Update: Konami also registered “Existence” alone, without a link back to Metal Gear Solid in the USPTO on August 11. “Guns of the Patriots”, Metal Gear Solid 4’s subtitle, was also registered separately.

Update 2: As I explained before the source is the Japanese Trademark Database do a search there and you will see that Konami registered the trademark for Metal Gear Existence on August 1, 2008. Ten days later Konami USA registered “Existence” in the USA. Yes, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence came with a disc 3 called Existence, but that came out in 2005 (Japan) and 2006 (USA). These trademarks were registered in 2008.

Images courtesy of Konami.