Following the final cover art of the game being made available, many gamers on a verity of message boards noticed that the traditional “A Hideo Kojima Game” featured on the cover of every Metal Gear Solid game has been removed.
The removal of Kojima’s name has fueled more speculation of an internal conflict at Konami and that the company is planning to end its relationship with the iconic game developer following the release of The Phantom Pain. Friction between Kojima and Konami was first noticed when Kojima Studios was removed from promotional material followed by the cancellation of Silent Hills.
Many gamers and figures in the gaming media have been quick to denounce Konami’s action as being incredibly petty and unprofessional. Most notable was Erik Kain of Forbes who described the move as, “Outside of a little passive-aggressiveness, I’m not sure what Konami is hoping to achieve here. Smug satisfaction? All it really does is make for more bad blood and animosity in the gaming industry and community—the last thing either needs. This is no way to make a graceful exit from consoles.”
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the tenth game in the series and follows the events of Ground Zeroes. After the attack on Mother Base, Big Boss awakes from a coma only to establishes a new mercenary army while seeking revenge against XOF. The game is set to be released in September 2015 for all major consoles and the PC.
