The Japanese PlayStation Store has posted a listing for the PlayStation 4 version of Metal Gear Online (Game Data Version 1.00), confirming the multiplayer-based companion to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will eat up 913MB of space on your console’s hard drive.
Game Data Version 1.00 of Metal Gear Online is required to launch the basic multiplayer experience for The Phantom Pain, which you’ll need to get you stated in the world of online stealth-action.
However, it’s not just the core game data that you’ll need in order to enjoy Metal Gear Online’s stealthy, Snake-in-a-box multiplayer antics. Gamers will also need to download the latest patch for The Phantom Pain, which Konami has confirmed will be made available for download prior to MGO’s launch on October 6. Metal Gear Online will be released for PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360, with a PC version arriving in early 2016.
Metal Gear Online will be the third iteration of the series’ multiplayer-based offering, having originally launched with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and evolving with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS3 back in 2008. The Phantom Pain arrived on September 1 and was preceded by Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue chapter set nine years before Snake’s Afghanistan excursion.
The future of Metal Gear is up in the air at this point. Rumors of Konami distancing itself from AAA console development were recently shot down by the Japanese software giant, although nothing official has been made regarding the production of a new Metal Gear Solid title. However, it has publicly said that the brand can still continue without the involvement of creator, Hideo Kojima.
Of course, Kojima-san’s reported falling out with Konami bosses has been the subject of much debate for the past few months. The exact details of what happened remain ambiguous, although much of the chatter started after his company name was removed from various products, including Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’s Japanese homepage. Konami later said that this was due to a "change in production organization" within the company.
Soon after, Donna Burke, a singer-songwriter who has worked on the Metal Gear Solid franchise,claimed that Kojima-san had in fact been fired from Konami. Things didn’t stop there either; Konamilater removed all references to Kojima-san from the final box art for The Phantom Pain. While we’re still none the wiser as to what happened, Kojima-san himself has asserted that he doesn’t have any plans to stop creating games going forward. He later bid an emotional farewell to Metal Gear in a new video posted online.
Be sure to read our review of The Phantom Pain if you haven’t already done so and have a butcher’s at some Metal Gear Online screens while you’re at it.