Konami Removes Several Metal Gear Solid Games From Digital Stores, Including MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots
Last week, during the latest State of Play event, Konami announced Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2. Fans welcomed the news, especially because it brings back more games from the series, including Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. However, Konami has now surprised players by removing the original digital versions of some of these games.
Master Collection Vol. 2 includes three titles that many expected after the release of Volume 1: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.
Original Digital Versions Have Been Removed
Konami did not give any warning about removing the original digital versions from online stores. Many players discovered the change by chance. The affected titles include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PlayStation 3, which was added to the PlayStation Store in 2014, as well as Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP and its HD versions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The store page for Peace Walker HD on PS3 has been completely removed. Players who already purchased these games can still download them from their library, but new buyers can no longer purchase them digitally on their original platforms.
Although these are older games that have been available for many years, the decision has caused criticism among fans. Many argue that removing digital versions makes game preservation more difficult and once again highlights the importance of physical copies.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will launch on August 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
