Senior research analyst David Gibson has revealed an interesting little bit of information on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. Apparently, Konami will decide the release date for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain based on the former’s performance.
Konami saying MGS5 release timing will depend on how Ground Zeroes goes first combined with next generation, then decide if 2014 or 2015
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) November 7, 2013
When the Ground Zeroes was first revealed, it was thought that it would be the next MGS game. However, The Phantom Pain soon came along, which led to Hideo Kojima stating that Ground Zeroes was a prologue while The Phantom Pain, the bulk of the game, was an epilogue. There was still belief that both were part of the same game, despite conflicting reports and lack of information since then.
However, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes will be releasing early next year for both current and next-gen consoles with the aim of introducing players to the series’ new open world elements before The Phantom Pain releases. Does it really help to fast-track the release of the latter if the former does well? Just how far in development is The Phantom Pain? We’ll find out in the coming months it seems.