Metal Gear producer leaves Kojima Productions

"It'll be hard not being involved in MGS5"

Speaking to Kotaku, Metal Gear Solid 4 assistant producer Ryan Payton has revealed that he has now departed Kojima Productions, and will return to America to spend more time with his family.

Payton has worked on the Metal Gear series since 2005, and took a three month holiday following the new action title's long-awaited launch: "I went back home to my family’s place in Washington state and literally three weeks after MGS4 launched we were hit with some pretty heavy news concerning my mom. I don’t think I need to go into details, but all of this has reminded me about how important family is. So this past month I decided to leave Kojima Productions and look to continue my career working closer to my family in North America."

On Metal Gear Solid 5, he adds: "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. I'll be cheering from the sidelines."

We'll let you know where Payton ends up in the future.

By Luke Guttridge