Konami has announced that it’s preparing to bring back several delisted Metal Gear Solid games to digital storefronts. The games, particularly Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, were delisted last year due to licensing issues. Konami is now addressing these issues and are apparently working on restoring several titles in Hideo Kojima’s stealth-action series for online stores.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the original Metal Gear, which was developed by Konami and former studio weight-lifter Hideo Kojima. To celebrate its anniversary, Konami stated in a recent tweet that it’s aiming to bring many delisted Metal Gear Solid games back to digital stores, though didn’t offer an exact timeframe for when we can expect it to happen.
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“The Metal Gear series, launched on 13 July 1987, celebrates its 35th anniversary today,” Konami’s tweet reads. “We are preparing to resume the sale of titles that had been temporarily suspended.”
Konami removed Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 from digital sale last year, stating:
“We are currently working on renewing the licenses for select historical archive footage used in-game, therefore, we have made the temporary decision to begin suspending the sale of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and all products that include these games from digital storefronts globally starting from November 8th, 2021.
We sincerely ask for your patience and understanding as we work towards making these products available for purchase once again.”
Among the titles delisted (which Konami might be referring to) were the HD editions of Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 and 3 for PS3, the HD Collection for PS Vita and Xbox 360 and Snake Eater 3D for the Nintendo 3DS.
Since the franchise’s creator, Hideo Kojima, parted ways with the Japanese publisher to form his own studio in Kojima Productions, Konami has struggled to do anything notable with the Metal Gear IP (apart from a poorly received spin-off, Metal Gear Survive). However, previous reports suggest that Konami might’ve sourced the intellectual property out to other developers, though we’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of it.
Source: Konami
