MGS 2 & 3 Delisted From Stores Temporarily

Game licensing never changes. Except for that one time, it had changed, and Metal Gear Solid 4 only had 2-hours of gameplay in it. It is a strange little thing, the entire world of licensing of music, video footage, or other parts that games employ to create the audio and video experience we’re all used to by now. More noticeable with the world of digital sales, someone buying the GTA Trilogy will get a completely different experience than I did when I grew up. I’m not just talking about the ridiculously Fortnite-inspired reworking of characters either. The most notable difference tends to be music, such as San Andreas‘ soundtrack, which is ruined with a lack of “Woman to Woman,” by Joe Cocker.

Well, in a slight change of pace from usual, the reason for Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3‘s removal from digital storefronts this weekend was actually some old footage. At least according to Konami when they put out their statement saying: “We are currently working on renewing the licenses for select historical archive footage used in-game. therefore, we have made the temporary decision to begin suspending the sale of METAL GEAR SOLID 2, METAL GEAR SOLID 3, and all products that include these games from digital storefronts[.]” Though the removal was meant to start from the 8th of November, it seems the Nvidia Shield app got the jump on those removals.

At the time of writing, Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance is still available to put into your cart for $9.80 on GOG. However, one believes that could be changing within a matter of hours before publishing. Meanwhile, attempts to find Metal Gear Solid 3 on the PlayStation storefront are challenging for multiple reasons including a lack of filtering available, and one might assume a lack of it still being on the store any longer. As suggested in the notice by Konami, the removal is meant to be a temporary decision, and though it is unclear when they will return, one hopes it is something that can be rectified soon.