"Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" will not be rushed by Konami, so don't expect the game to be released before Spring 2014.
At least Konami will be releasing the prologue to hold over the series' fans. In an interview with Famitsu, series creator Hideo Kojima explained why MGS5 and "Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes" will be released as separate games.
"If I were to put it in Hollywood movie terms, the prologue, that is Ground Zeroes, would be similar to the first 10-15 minutes that are meant to 'captivate' [the audience]," Kojima told the magazine. "At first, something will happen, then the title will appear like 'bam!' and then nine years later, a big event will be the start [of Metal Gear Solid V]. That's how the story will be connected."
Kojima added "The Phantom Pain" and "Ground Zeroes" do differ in their gameplay. The upcoming MGS5 will be a much larger open world that its prologue.
"It would've actually been better to release it all at once, but by the way things are going, it appears likely that Phantom Pain will be coming out around the time the PlayStation 4 becomes more spread out. That means we would've had to make people wait a while longer," Kojima said.
Konami wants to make MGS5 a "grand" open world title, and it requires time to develop for Sony's next-gen gaming platform
"The Phantom Pain has enormous volume, so it will require much more time," Kojima explained. "So, together with the marketing staff, we consulted 'what ifs' and such, and came to the decision of allowing fans to at least play the prologue, ahead of time. We want to offer it for as cheap as possible, so at first we thought about making it as a download only; however, after thinking about people around the world, and how some places don't have the best connectivity, we're preparing a physical version."
MGS5 will be available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
