It’s hard to believe that news this big would just sneak out of Konami, but it looks like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be released on September 1. The news comes courtesy of a a behind-the-scenes interview with Hideo Kojima that IGN accidentally published a day earlier than planned. Several sites (including Game Informer) peeked at the video before it was pulled and shared the good news with the world.
Kojima had a few other interesting tidbits to share in the video including the fact that Snake will be more of a “silent protagonist” in The Phantom Pain. If that’s true, then why hire Kiefer Sutherland? Rather than expound on that puzzling question, Kojima reiterated (again) that The Phantom Pain will be his last time directing a Metal Gear Solid game:
“I always say this will be my last Metal Gear, but the games in the series I’ve personally designed and produced: Metal Gear on MSX, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3, 4, and Peace Walker, and now Metal Gear Solid V are what constitute a single Metal Gear saga,” he says. “With Metal Gear Solid V, I’m finally closing the loop on that saga. In that sense, this will be the final Metal Gear Solid. Even if the Metal Gear franchise continues, to me, this is the last Metal Gear.”
Konami acknowledged the leak on Twitter, but they also promised players that more Metal Gear-related announcements will be made tomorrow (at 12:00 PM Eastern Time) when their countdown expires.
