Konami has no plans to ever actually finish Metal Gear Solid V

Metal Gear Solid V is an exceptional game if you strip away its most disappointing element: its story. From a gameplay perspective, it’s an incredible, expansive experience that takes some of the series’ best elements and manages to overlay them over open-world gameplay. The story, on the other hand, is a let down. Seemingly half finished with more than a few dangling threads, it’s clear some of it never made the cut. But Konami won’t finish it.

According to the publisher, all 50 missions of Metal Gear Solid V encapsulate the story it wanted to tell, with all the remaining threads being wrapped up in already released titles that take place further down the timeline. Answering fan questions on Twitter, the official Metal Gear account acknowledge the existence of additional missions (like mission 51), but claims that it was content cut before the game went gold.

@Spindash54 @Konami Mission 51 is additional story content that was cancelled before development finished, but its definitely not the ending

— METAL GEAR OFFICIAL (@metalgear_en) 30 August 2016

As for the behind-the-scenes footage of the mission, it was nothing more than a bonus to Collector’s Edition buyers, with the publisher having no plans to actually release it for play. Many players have accused Metal Gear Solid V of cutting a full Act from the end, which Kotaku reported to contain the most important narrative bits in the entire game.

We’ve known for ages now that something not so pleasant happened between Hideo Kojima and Konami, and it’s clear the fallout of that resulted in less time for Metal Gear Solid V development and likely the axing of content that might have rounded it off a lot better. It’s a shame too, especially with Konami already making it clear that they don’t seek to preserve the pedigree that once came with the name Metal Gear.

Last Updated: September 1, 2016