TheMetal Gearfranchise is one of the most influential series in gaming, spearheaded by auteur game director Hideo Kojima and published by Konami back in 1987. This series would then go on to produce several sequels and spin-offs, withMetal Gear Solidbecoming a household name for PlayStation and catapulting Kojima to massive success. While the franchise is still widely recognized today, the departure of Kojima from Konami in 2015 combined with theoverwhelmingly negative reception of 2018’sMetal Gear Survivehave effectively put the series in a standstill.
Fan expectations were suddenly swerved with a mysterious website that popped up on April 1st, with a loading screen that had the iconicMetal Gearexclamation point, and “35th” in place of the dot that is usually there. While some were lead to believe that potential news regardingMetal Gearwas on the way, most fans were already wary of the site in question due to the date that it showed up on. It became very apparent that this site was a giant April Fools' joke from a fan.
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A representative from Konami spoke with Techradar, confirming that the site is a fake, along with considerations on “how to deal with this site.” If one goes to the website now, it has been updated with a bunch of new information regarding a “Metal Gear 35th Anniversary” NFT Auction, with the pictures in question up for auction being ofMetal Gear Solidmainstay Hal “Otacon” Emmerich. These images are various expressions and edits of Hal’s sprites fromMetal Gear Solid 2, in a similar fashion to NFT’s various ape pictures.
The website in particular has a disclaimer that it is a parody, and not affiliated with Konami or any other of its related properties. The disclaimer also notes the site is a dig atKonami’sCastlevaniaNFT plansthat saw reviled reactions from fans and that there are no actual NFTs for sale on the site. This is evidenced by the mockery of the practice in a lot of the text revolving around the auction instructions.
The final piece of information that was asked by the website holder is to restore theremovedMGS2andMGS3from digital stores, in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. When the Konami spokesperson was asked if the company has something in mind forMetal Gear’s 35th anniversary this July, they simply stated that there’s nothing they could comment on at this time.
