According to MGS4 producer Ryan Payton, Metal Gear Solid 5 may be a prequel.

Speaking with 1UP, Payton reminded gamers that though series lead Solid Snake's saga may have ended, there's still "a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as [series antagonist and MGS3 lead] Big Boss is concerned."

"There are some misunderstandings that this is the final Metal Gear game," Payton added. "But it's really the final chapter of the Solid Snake story. That's all."

Series creator Hideo Kojima made similar remarks last month. Prior to that, the MGS4 writer-director revealed that he will no longer be directly involved in the development of future Metal Gear titles.

"I'm happy we could wrap up Snake's story in MGS4," continued Payton. "If we continue on with Metal Gear Solid 5 with more Solid Snake adventures, we'll get to the point where the game has absolutely no basis in reality... He's had four or five really big missions, and that seems a little more realistic to me."

A PlayStation 3 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4 was released on June 12.