Phantom Pain is a Long Time from Release

Some were surprised when the learnt that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain would be two separate games, but perhaps they’ll be more surprised by the length of time that it’s going to take between the two. Hideo Kojima took to Famitsu this week and said that Konami had come up with the idea of a prologue title after realizing just how far from finished The Phantom Pain was.

Courtesy of Siliconera:

It would’ve actually been better to release it all at once, but by the way things are going, it appears likely that Phantom Pain will be coming out around the time the PlayStation 4 becomes more spread out. That means we would’ve had to make people wait a while longer.

Prior to the announcement of Metal Gear Solid V, last year, we showed a Fox Engine implementation video. Then, we also showed the Fox Engine in a presentation video at GDC 2013.  Since we revealed information on a regular basis, there were many who believed that Metal Gear Solid V was already complete, and there were many voices from fans saying ‘we want to play it soon’.

However, The Phantom Pain has enormous volume, so it will require much more time. So, together with the marketing staff, we consulted ‘what ifs’ and such, and came to the decision of allowing fans to at least play the prologue, ahead of time. We want to offer it for as cheap as possible, so at first we thought about making it as a download only; however, after thinking about people around the world, and how some places don’t have the best connectivity, we’re preparing a physical version.

The important thing, in releasing Ground Zeroes separately, is that there’s enough there to warrant the relatively high cost (you’re still paying £30 in the UK), and it seems like Konami are at least trying to add value. Later in the interview, Kojima revealed there would be a reward for somebody who had a Ground Zeroes save when Phantom Pain arrives, and that they were looking for other incentives on purchase as well.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be available for purchase early next year.