A new revelation has been made about Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes by the series creator Hideo Kojima. This revelation was made on the game’s 9th anniversary and unveils one of the intentions of this particular project as it was meant to be an experiment that could have potentially led to an episodic series. Of course, these plans fell through for a variety of reasons which are also explained by its creator.
The revelation came around earlier today as Hideo Kojima tweeted the following regarding Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (referred to as GZ).
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Since PS4 was launched at the end of 2013, the game was pre-released with the PS4 x FOX Engine x Open World to introduce the new MGS and also to provide feedback to the main game in mind.— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 20, 2023
In a later tweet, Kojima states that his original intention was to launch Ground Zeroes as a first part of an episodic format that would be akin of a streamed drama where one episode is produced and distributed. In a sense, this game was meant to be more so of an experiment rather than what the game ended up becoming which is a prologue to the larger story found in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Of course, Kojima also mentioned that the reception that Ground Zeroes received also played a role in this development as well. While this was supposed to be an experimental ground for an episodic format, it was also poorly received after launch since many people expected the game to be a “Full game” and missed the intention originally established by Kojima. The rest is, as they say, history as Metal Gear Solid V faced several development woes, ultimately ending with Kojima’s firing from the gaming giant and his establishment of a new independent studio.
Now, whether this idea was good or not is left to our readers’ interpretations of what an Episodic installment in the Metal Gear Solid series would’ve been like. After all, this game in particular saw a lot of cut content that definitely wouldn’t have looked out of place from an episodic series that was meant to build up the main character’s motivation for revenge. Still, it definitely is an interesting concept to think about.
As for that particular independent studio? Well, the sequel to Death Stranding 2 was recently teased by Kojima Productions, and it seems to be just as trippy as the first game. Kojima himself stated that this wouldn’t be a regular sequel while mentioning that technological advancements will allow for new features to be added. Death Stranding 2 is currently in development for PlayStation 5.
