Konami is investigating how the hidden nuclear disarmament ending for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has been unlocked – despite the conditions needed to see it not being met. Metal Gear Solid is one of the most popular gaming franchises of all time, and in contrast to most action titles, the gameplay is focused on stealth and hiding from enemies instead of combat. The games are also famous for their lengthy cutscenes, colorful characters and polished cinematic sheen. The Metal Gear series is the brainchild of director Hideo Kojima, who intended The Phantom Pain to be his final instalment in the series.
The game introduced new mechanics like a vast open world and a base management system, but sadly Kojima had a nasty falling out with longtime publisher Konami during development, which quickly became public knowledge. This led to the cancellation of Kojima’s promising horror sequel Silent Hills – a planned collaboration with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus – and the creator parted ways with the company shortly after Metal Gear Solid V’s completion. Kojima, del Toro and Reedus have since reunited for forthcoming PS4 title Death Stranding.
Related: Norman Reedus Praises Death Stranding’s “Mind Blowing” Concept
Metal Gear Solid V contains a hidden ending, whereby if all players disarm their nuclear stockpile, a nuclear disarmament cutscene is triggered. This scene was found by players looking through the game’s files shortly after release, but the conditions needed to unlocked this ending were considered near impossible. Nevertheless, the scene was unlocked on The Phantom Pain’s PC version recently, despite nukes still existing within the games. Now Konami has taken to Twitter (Via IGN) to explain this was an error, and they’re investigating how it happened.
Some players believe an error in the game’s code, leading it to believe no more nukes existed in the game world may be the cause, but that’s unconfirmed at this time. Since Kojima has moved on from the franchise, Konami is now developing spin-off Metal Gear Survive. This game finds some of Big Boss’ soldiers being sucked in an alternate reality, where they must scavenge for supplies and fend off zombie-like attackers. Reaction to the upcoming title has been mostly negative so far, with most fans feeling it deviates too much from the core gameplay.
The long-gestating Metal Gear Solid movie is still in the works also, with Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts at the helm. The director has previously stated that while the planned movie will be faithful to the series, the storyline wouldn’t be based on any one game.