Konami has announced that it’ll be temporarily pulling Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, and their respective iterations from digital storefronts. The reason of which boils down to the licensing of certain historical archive footage used in the games.
You might be a Hideo Kojima fan or at least interested in stealth games to have played the popular Metal Gear Solid series. And those who do would identify to the installments use of historical archive videos that add a sense of realism to otherwise fictitious story-telling. But as amazing as those moving pictures were, they are presently causing for a “temporary removal” of the two mainline titles. Due mostly to some expiring licenses that need sorting out in order for the materials to be reused again.
MGS2, MGS3, and their associated renditions
To date, both Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 have had multiple iterations as a result of releasing them to multiple platforms. This is not to mention them being “HD” versions of their original PS2 counterparts. In being thorough, Konami listed the affected games of the removal as follows:
- METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SONS OF LIBERTY HD EDITION (PlayStation®3)
- PlayStation®3 METAL GEAR SOLID 3 SNAKE EATER HD EDITION
- METAL GEAR SOLID HD EDITION (PlayStation®3)
- PlayStation®Vita METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SONS OF LIBERTY HD EDITION
- METAL GEAR SOLID 3 SNAKE EATER HD EDITION (PlayStation®Vita)
- PlayStation®Vita METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION
- PlayStation™Now METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION
- Xbox 360 METAL GEAR SOLID HD EDITION: 2 & 3
- Nintendo 3DS METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D
- com METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SUBSTANCE
- NVIDIA® SHIELD™ METAL GEAR SOLID 2 HD for SHIELD TV
- METAL GEAR SOLID 3 HD for SHIELD TV (NVIDIA® SHIELD™)
Disclaimer
As a disclaimer, Konami states that “some of the above titles are not available in some countries and regions”. Clearly, suggesting that the announcement will not apply to select nations and locations due to, likely, geo-political reason. Which comes hardly as a surprise considering the sensitive content that the entire franchise embodies.
While the proclamation may have come abrupt, it’s worth reiterating that the action towards the two mainline titles is but just a temporary thing. How sooner or later the licensing trouble be addressed, however, is anybody’s guess at this point. But considering how there remains some demand for the digital titles in the modern context, it comes unsurprising for Konami to resolve the issue soon enough.
Image used courtesy of GameSpot/YouTube Screenshot