Japanese game creator Hideo Kojima confirmed that he has indeed parted ways with game developer Konami and with the split, “Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” is rumored to be the final iteration to the hugely popular action-adventure stealth video game franchise, or at least the last one with Kojima at the helm.
Kojima’s sudden and unexplained departure from Konami was followed by the immediate removal of Kojima’s name from all the game’s promotional materials in North America and Europe, although Moviepilot reports that in Japan, some pre-order box art of the video game still has Kojima’s name on it.
Fans are now worried that the strain between Kojima and Konami, who are both Japanese, would put an end to the series of games brought about by their collaborative efforts. Although no official confirmation has been made as the team is focusing on the near release of the game, it is very possible that “Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” may be the last of game of the series indeed. That is unless Konami and Kojima settle their issues once and for all.
Word also just got out that the action-adventure video game’s former composer Rika Muranaka has spilled details about the real reason between Konami and Kojima’s split. According to Destructoid, a podcast entitled The Codec was uploaded on the internet with someone claiming that Muranaka has said that the reason the Japanese game developer decided to put an end to a good relation with Konami was because of financial issues.
It is worth noting that Muranaka was not directly interviewed during the podcast but merely quoted by someone who claims to have the conversation regarding “Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” with the game composer. According to The Codec’s podcast, Kojima was only getting a fixed salary despite the game’s massive success. Furthermore, Kojima was rumored to be not getting paid a portion of the profits from game sales despite the 51-year-old developer’s hard work for the game’s continuous improvements.
“Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain” is the sequel to 2014’s “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes” and has long been announced to be a lot bigger than its predecessor. It will have the same tagline of Tactical Espionage Operation. The game is set in 1984 during the Soviet-Afghan War and follows the story of a covetous leader named Punished “Venom” Snake, who’s actually Big Boss in another Metal Gear game. He goes to Africa and Afghanistan after awaking from a nine-year coma to get revenge on the people who destroyed his allies after the events that occurred during “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.”
Fans of the game are hoping that if the upcoming game is indeed the last entry to the highly successful gaming franchise, then they could at least presume that the game would tie up as many loose ends the saga had created. Reports are rife claiming that the latest edition of the game will introduce more open environments for Snake as he needs to explore the massive land in order to spot his enemies and plan the best and safest route and course of action.
As per Gaming Bolt, the map for the Northern section of Afghanistan in the game had recently been leaked with images floating around the internet. A Reddit user was kind enough to do his own calculations and share it to Metal Gear forums. According to the user’s analysis, the leaked portion of the map turns out to be roughly 60 times bigger than that of “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.” Take note that it is only for the Afghanistan map as no official word or leak has come out as to how enormous the maps of Africa and Cyprus will be.
“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” also boasts a Mother Base gameplay for players to research and craft new weapons, equipment, and the option to train an army. If Snake faces something or someone useful during his journey, Fulton recovery system is there to help them get those straight to Mother Base.