From the moment Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was announced, controversies have followed it - and it probably would until it does see the light of day upon its release.
While the real reason for game developer Kojima Productions - and, more specifically, game designer Hideo Kojima - and publisher Konami parting ways remains ambiguous, what is clear is that everything would be different once the inevitable separation does happen on December.
It's so stressful for fans to think about all of it. From criticism over Quiet's sexiness, to David Hayter not lending his voice to Snake, to Konami removing Kojima's mark on the majority of the series (and his other works), to site re-direction from Kojima's site to Konami's, to neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero's claims of "face robbery", there appears to be no end to the circus. IGN has a timeline of the activity between Kojima and Konami.
Yes, Canavero actually filed a police report on 19 April claiming likeness was used without his permission for a character that appeared on the game's trailer. The doctor is intent on filing a lawsuit against those behind the game. Neither Kojima nor Konami has commented on it so far but obviously they would never do such a thing.
Not only does the Kojima site still re-directs to Konami 's when visited, even the Kojima Productions' Facebook page is gone.
Nonetheless, Konami would probably still make a killing, since the Metal Gear 5: The Phantom Pain Collector's Edition got sold out in the UK, way ahead of schedule. The £99.99 special edition set, made for PS4 and Xbox One, includes the full game in a collectible steelbook package, a physical map, in-game DLC, a behind the scenes documentary and a half-scale replica of Snake's bionic arm.
No matter what is put in its way, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will be a huge hit. It will be released for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on 1 September. The Windows PC follows on 15 September.
Was Kojima really fired by Konami as per Donna Burke's original statement? What could have made Konami so discontented with the partnership to make them remove Kojima's name from most of his works and even cancel Silent Hills which happens to be another of his major projects?
"It's not gonna happen and that breaks my greasy heart," Guillermo del Toro tweeted on 26 April regarding Silent Hills.
"Super bummed about this was really looking forward to it. Hopefully it'll come back around. Sorry everyone," Norman Reedus said.
Del Toro and Reedus was part of the cast and crew for Silent Hills before its untimely demise.
Despite the cancellation, Konami said they will still move on with the franchise. In the mean time, the company has taken down the game trailer.
At any rate, there is no stopping the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain now. Hopefully, the story won't go downhill once Kojima walks away from it all. It would even be better if he walked away with both Metal Gear and Silent Hill since they are his finest works.
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