Even though one would expect that fans of the “Metal Gear Solid” franchise would be excited to hear about an upcoming sequel, things haven’t been entirely smooth for Konami. The studio has faced several issues with the game’s development so far, and fans have been expressing a strongly negative attitude towards the development process with each bit of news that has come out. Differences between “Ground Zeroes” and “The Phantom Pain” have been pointed out, followed by news that David Hayter would not be coming back to do voice work on the new installment.
And now, the bad news continue. It’s just been revealed that Major Zero will not be voiced by Jim Piddock in the new installment. According to Piddock himself, the reason is purely financial – Konami have apparently made him an offer that he cited as “insulting”.
All of these events could possibly indicate that the studio is having issues with the funding of the game, although this is purely speculation and there haven’t been any reports indicating anything of that sort. At the same time, Konami have been relatively quiet about the issues, instead of coming out to reassure their fans that the development is still going according to plan at least to some extent.
At this point, it’s not known whether Piddock will eventually come back. According to him, he could consider it if Konami changed their offer, but nothing appears to be certain at this point, and the game’s future is starting to look less and less pleasant for the most dedicated fans of the franchise.
Meanwhile, there are at least some good news on the front of the older installments in the series, as it’s been announced that “Metal Gear Solid 4” will be made available on PSN by the end of December. It will cost $19.99 or the equivalent in other currencies (the regional pricing equivalent, that is), and is scheduled for release on December 16 in America, followed by December 17 in Europe.
So, while “Metal Gear Solid 5” isn’t looking very well right now, at least those who haven’t played the last game in the series have something to be happy about. The re-release of “MGS4” could also be a nice blast from the past for fans of the series, especially with the holidays coming up – there should be plenty of time to fire up the older game and go through its levels once again. And in the end, things with “Metal Gear Solid 5” might not end up so badly – Konami may still be able to salvage the title and turn things around if they make the right decisions.