KONAMI (The original Metal Gear publisher) has announced today on the series' official

" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter account that it is preparing for the resumption of sales for related titles that have been temporarily suspended. Specific title names and dates have not yet been disclosed.

Metal Gear, directed by Hideo Kojima (currently Kojima Productions), celebrates its 35th Anniversary today, July 13th, 2022. The game was released by KONAMI for the MSX2 home computer on July 13th, 1987, and later ported to Windows PC in September 2020.

Metal Gear, the first title in the series depicts Solid Snake’s first mission as a member of the FOXHOUND team, in which he infiltrates Outer Heaven, an armed fortress in the interior of South Africa. Since then, many other mainline titles and spin-offs have been released, but they were temporarily removed by Konami in November 2021 due to issues with the licensing of the historical footage used in the games.

Metal Gear Solid 2 Raiden and Snake Art Yoji Shinkawa

Konami has issued a statement amidst fans’ concerns via Euro Gamer regarding the removal, confirming that the real reasoning behind the removal was indeed the historical archive footage used throughout the games, and how it will mainly affect MGS2, MGS3 and all products including these games on all storefronts. The games cannot be currently purchased on PS3, XBOX 360 and even digital stores like GOG and Shield TV.

Since then, Konami has expressed its dedication to making these titles available again for purchase to the patient and understanding fans. It should be noted that this does not directly affect those who already purchased these titles beforehand, only newer purchases. It seems the due date for their return is not very far off now.

The official Twitter account for Metal Gear celebrated its 35th anniversary by releasing a short statement, which reads "We are preparing to resume sales of titles that have been temporarily suspended". Unfortunately, an exact date for when sales will resume was not shared by the account.

Metal Gear Solid 2 received critical acclaim upon its release, and until today it is still considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. It has one of the most multilayered and complex narratives, with a political weight that continues to be relative until our modern day. Metal Gear Solid 3 tells the origins of the series protagonist: Solid Snake, 31 years before the events of the original Metal Gear, and is set within the setting of the Cold War during the 1960s. 

Both of them are very important and timeless products from the great mind of Hideo Kojima, and we cannot wait for these titles to be available again on all modern consoles for old fans and new players to enjoy.