Metal Gear Solid is one of the most renowned franchises in the gaming industry, and its success, without a doubt, can be owed to none other than Hideo Kojima. The director is known for his work on many successful titles including the MGS series, Death Stranding, and many such titles that he has delivered to fans over the years.
However, Kojima has revealed how he still holds regret for something he was unable to make happen during the development of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker while it was still possible 14 years ago.
Hideo Kojima Celebrates 14 Years Of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Expressing through his official Twitter account, Kojima celebrated 14 years since the release of MGSPW. He revealed how after the release of the fourth installment in the series he felt the need to introduce a proprietary game engine moving forward, and till the said engine was made, the franchise needed to make a horizontal evolution through Peace Walker.
It was also disclosed how the game was supposed to be introduced as a fifth cannon release to the video game series, but the idea was not approved by the marketing team at the studio, causing them to ultimately drop it. The director additionally mentioned how the target age group was also lowered for the game and was made to attract elementary, junior high, and high school students as Sony’s PSP was on the rise at the time.
14 years since the release of “PW.”I was still in my mid-40s. At the time, many game companies were beginning to shift to developing apps for the phones. After finishing up MGS4, I felt the need for a proprietary game engine. The vertical leap of the game had to be done after the… pic.twitter.com/vZ3fyCfmkd
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) April 29, 2024
The ultimate aim of the studio by releasing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was to acquire both, a younger generation of their kids, and their parents. The game ultimately ended up becoming a stepping stone to further increasing the franchise’s popularity once it was finally released in 2010, but there is one single regret Hideo Kojima holds about the game to this day.
What Is The One Regret Hideo Kojima Has About Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker?
Replying to the above-mentioned tweet, the renowned director further revealed how he intended to include a particular song track in the game but was unfortunately not able to obtain the required rights to do so. He talks about how he had planned to use a certain song that fits the theme of the game while The Boss, a character in-game, was dying by suicide.
If I have one regret about PW, it’s the part when the AI weapon modeled after The Boss's personality sings a song while committing suicide by drowning. At first, I had planned to use a certain famous song that perfectly fit the "peace" and "70's" theme of the game. We kept… https://t.co/Z1BMJUZj6q
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) April 29, 2024
Kojima kept negotiating till the very end and stated how they even approached a “bereaved family” to negotiate directly for the rights, but still could not obtain them due to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker being a “gun shooting game“. In the end, the director conveyed that while he might have been unable to obtain the rights to the track he wanted, the song that replaced it was great in its own right too.
Unfortunately, it has been now nearly a decade since the last title of the franchise came out, which was the last project Hideo Kojima worked on before splitting with Konami, the parent studio behind developing and publishing the franchise. Fans are now hoping that the director will make his return once again if the studio manages to bring him back for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a game that is currently teased to be in development.
