Metal Gear Solid games are being pulled from digital stores

Konami is pulling Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 from all digital storefronts, starting today.

In a statement posted on the official Metal Gear Solid website, the publisher claimed that the games would have to be removed from sale because some of the real-life archive footage used in them had been licensed and those licences were now expired.

“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,” the statement reads.

“We sincerely ask for your patience and understanding as we work towards making these products available for purchase once again.”

The full list of games being temporarily removed from sale are as follows:

• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD Edition (PS3)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD Edition (PS3)
• Metal Gear Solid HD Edition (PS3)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD Edition (Vita)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD Edition (Vita)
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (Vita)
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PlayStation Now)
• Metal Gear Solid HD Edition: 2 & 3 (Xbox 360)
• Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D (3DS)
• Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance (GOG.com)
• Metal Gear Solid 2 HD for Shield TV (Nvidia Shield)
• Metal Gear Solid 3 HD for Shield TV (Nvidia Shield)

When Sony originally planned to close down the PlayStation Vita store in summer 2021, it gave developers a deadline of July 6 to submit new titles. Although it eventually u-turned on the decision, the deadlines reportedly stayed in place.

This means there’s a possibility that the Vita ports of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 may not be able to return to the store even after Konami renews their licensing.

The news does not appear to be related to VGC’s report in August that Chinese studio Virtuos is working on a new version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Further reading

Virtuos employee confirms ‘unannounced remake’ amid Metal Gear Solid 3 report

The Chinese firm is working on an “unannounced [triple-A] action adventure game remake”

In addition to the MGS3 project, Konami intends to release remasters of the original Metal Gear Solid games for modern consoles, we reported.

VGC first reported Konami’s softening of its stance over licensing its game properties earlier this year, in a report revealing that the company has outsourced a new Silent Hill game.

It’s understood that Konami is also working on a new Castlevania game, which sources described as a “reimagining” of the series currently in development internally at Konami in Japan, with support from local external studios.