Official 14 years later, Hideo Kojima reveals why Peace Walker wasn't called Metal Gear Solid 5: "It faced strong opposition from overseas marketing"

[LIONT4MER]

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker launched on PSP 14 years ago, and for much of that time we've wondered why it wasn't made a proper numbered entry in the series. Now, director Hideo Kojima has revealed it's because of "overseas marketing."

"After creating MGS4, I strongly felt the need for a proprietary engine," Kojima says in a new tweet. "The leap forward for games in a vertical direction would only come after the engine was complete." That led to the creation of the Fox Engine that powered Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. In the meantime, Kojima wanted to evolve the series "horizontally" - onto other platforms.


"I proposed Peace Walker as a way to evolve MGS horizontally," Kojima continues. "Initially, it was titled MGS5: Peace Walker, but it faced strong opposition from overseas marketing, so we dropped the numbered title. Since it was for the PSP, we lowered the target age range to middle and high school students, aiming to discover younger fans and build a multi-generational following, with parents and children enjoying the game together."

Details:

14 years later, Hideo Kojima reveals why Peace Walker wasn't called Metal Gear Solid 5: "It faced strong opposition from overseas marketing"

"I proposed Peace Walker as a way to evolve MGS horizontally"

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[Hazel Stevenson]

Kojima is known for keeping things mysterious, even long after a game's release. It's fascinating to see how marketing choices shaped Peace Walker’s title. Given its significance to the story, it truly felt like a mainline entry in the series.

 

[MybrokenMarikoo]

For a PSP game, Peace Walker was fantastic, but playing it with just one joystick was an absolute nightmare!

 

[PiratekingzzDomain888]

I prefer Peacewalker over V in every aspect apart from V's super smooth gameplay.

 

[Moonchild]

Konami probably won't do it, but if they ever decide to re-release Peace Walker, I'd suggest bundling it with Ground Zeroes and calling the combined package V. Then, they could simply rename Phantom Pain to VI.

Even though Phantom Pain is a direct sequel to Ground Zeroes, it can still stand on its own as a separate story, especially since it introduces a new version of Snake.