With little under a month to go now until its hotly-anticipated release, fans of Hideo Kojima’s idiosyncratic masterpiece series are chomping at the bit for new information relating to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. From a stylized PlayStation 4 bundle to a premium collector’s edition, there has been plenty to get excited about ahead of the sequel’s debut, though today we bring the disappointing news that the game’s multiplayer component has been delayed.
Originally, the rebooted Metal Gear Online was primed to go live on day one when The Phantom Pain launches across all platforms on September 1. However, Konami has pushed the online segment on consoles back to October 6, while the PC version won’t be released until early 2016.
Finally, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain also features the dedicated squad-based competitive multiplayer component, Metal Gear Online. Newly redesigned with the familiar gameplay and aesthetic styling of the acclaimed series, Metal Gear Online introduces Tactical Team Operations and features a ‘class system’ that more uniquely defines the strengths and abilities of player characters on the battlefield. As a result of the updated timing, console versions of Metal Gear Online will go live on October 6th, with the PC version set to release in January 2016.
We’ve long heard of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s sprawling scope – said to be 200x bigger than its prequel, Ground Zeroes – so news that the tactical online multiplayer has been postponed in order to add that extra sheen of polish to the single-player should come as no surprise.
Following a recent reshuffling, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will launch across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on September 1, with Metal Gear Online to follow in due time.