Featured Image Credit: Konami
Topics: Konami, Metal Gear Solid, PlayStation, Sony, Retro Gaming
Two beloved PS3 games have suddenly been delisted from the PlayStation Store, and it feels like the end of an era.
One of the biggest surprises that came during last week’s Sony State of Play was the announcement of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2.
Everyone knew it was coming eventually, but there was always that seed of doubt over whether Metal Gear Solid 4 would be included in the collection.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 packs together Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in one neat package, also including Metal Gear: Ghost Babel as a bonus.
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It’s great to finally get these games available on modern systems, particularly Metal Gear Solid 4 which was a PS3 exclusive and incredibly difficult to play in modern times.
While the collection is still around six months away from release, Konami has pre-emptively prepared for its release by delisting the two headlining games from storefronts.
As spotted on the PlayStation 3 Reddit page, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker have been removed from the PS3 store.
Peace Walker also appears to have been delisted from the Microsoft Store as well, where it was available as a backwards-compatible title on modern Xbox systems.
Unfortunately, this leaves hunting down physical copies of the games your only option to play them in the time between now and when the second Master Collection launches.
Publishers delisting older versions of games when a new remaster comes out is sadly not an uncommon practice. Rockstar Games removed the original 3D GTA trilogy from storefronts when the remasters launched in 2021.
What’s more, those GTA remasters were poorly received, meaning that we were stuck with an inferior experience and no legal way to purchase the originals. Even with some post-launch patches, the games were never really able to shake that reputation.
However, publishers don’t typically do this without warning, months before the remasters launch, which makes Konami’s decision a little bizarre.
Hopefully the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 versions of MGS4 and Peace Walker end up being just as good, if not better than the originals.
If they’re not up to snuff, it’ll reflect poorly on Konami for delisting the originals while selling new versions which people see as inferior.