Arguably the biggest piece of news to accompany the formal announcement of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain this past June was the official revelation that David Hayter, a veteran of the franchise for over 20 years and voice of Solid Snake, would not be voicing the game's protagonist, Big Boss. He was instead replaced by 24's Kiefer Sutherland.

During an interview with Red Bull for his upcoming game, Republique (in which Hayter will be starring), Producer Ryan Payton (formerly of the Metal Gear franchise) shed some light on what Mr. Hayter has had to go through after the confirmation that he would not be starring in Metal Gear Solid V. "I think the thing that made it most frustrating for him, and for me as a friend of his, and as a former Metal Gear developer, is that the fans, rightfully so, were [skeptical]," Payton explained, "Kojima's got all these strange reasons and jokes, and that the press thought this was all a joke, and that David would be back. But what's even more painful for David is that this isn't a joke. He's had to repeatedly say to fans that, no, he's not in the next Metal Gear game. He's having to go out of his way to really say he's not a part of the next game, so it's kind of like a terrible infinite loop for him.”

Payton added that Hayter's role in Republique has, "given [Mr. Hayter] the opportunity to be as creative as he wants with his character, and in a world that's not too far removed from Metal Gear. It's its own fiction, and while the tone is different, at its core, it's still a stealth action game, and there's a lot to his character that we're interested in exploring.”

David Hayter was also cast recently in Hinterland Games' introductory title, The Long Dark, which is scheduled for an October 2014 release on PC, Mac, and Linux.