‘MGSV Ground Zeroes’ was ‘meant to be an experiment for games in episodic format,’ Kojima says

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which released in 2014 from Kojima Productions and Konami was an interesting game in that it served as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which released the following year. However, series creator Hideo Kojima revealed that MGSV Ground Zeroes could have been the start of something even more experimental in the Metal Gear Solid franchise — namely, the start of episodic MGS games.

“Ground Zeroes was originally planned as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V,” Kojima said in a series of tweets, noting that MGSV Ground Zeroes was “an important introduction to root Snake’s vengeance in the main story, and the theme of MGSV is retribution.”

“Since PS4 was launched at the end of 2013,” Kojima explained, “the game was pre-released with the PS4, Fox Engine and open world to introduce the new Metal Gear Solid and also to provide feedback to the main game in mind.”

Kojima then revealed that MGSV Ground Zeroes was “meant to be an experiment for games in episodic format,” a direction for the game that certainly would’ve changed the nature of MGSV: The Phantom Pain drastically.

Snake in MGSV Ground Zeroes/Konami

“The development of a full game takes 4-5 years [and] times change during production,” Kojima added. “So I thought of offering an episodic format, like a streamed drama, where one episode is produced and distributed. Ground Zeroes was meant to be an experiment.”

Kojima went into more detail on MGSV Ground Zeroes being an experimental game on his Japanese Twitter, where he explained that original modus operandi for the episodic MGS games would be to “produce one episode and distribute it [then] distribute episodes 2 and 3 while getting feedback.”

“However,” Kojima said, “many people seemed to expect Ground Zeroes to be a ‘full game’ after its release, and they did not understand it. I have a feeling it was too early.”

Kojima’s latest projects include the upcoming Death Stranding 2 as well as a cloud-based project with Xbox which he announced at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, the former of which he described as “a game I have always wanted to make” and “a completely new game, one that no one has ever experienced or seen before.”

What do you think of MGSV Ground Zeroes‘s original basis as a game intended to test out a series of episodic games for the Metal Gear Solid series? Would it have worked?