The ‘Metal Gear’ franchise has sold almost 60million copies worldwide

With the specific number coming in at 58million, the entire series starting from 1987’s Metal Gear for the MSX2 computer all the way to the Metal Gear Solid revamp and other spin-offs appear to be counted towards the total.

This comes after Konami announced late last year that it would be pulling Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 from all storefronts. Despite speculation, Konami confirmed that this was due to both of the titles using archived historical footage, which licences need to be renewed for.

“We are currently working on renewing the licences for select historical archive footage used in-game, therefore, we have made the temporary decision to begin suspending the sale [of both games] and all products that include these games from digital storefronts globally starting from November 8, 2021.”

As of publication, both games appear to still be down from stores.

Shortly after this, reports emerged that Konami was planning to revive the Metal Gear and Castlevania franchises alongside Silent Hill. Studio Virtuos is allegedly remaking Metal Gear Solid 3, which runs counter to ongoing rumours and hopes from fans that Bluepoint Games is remaking the first Solid title. However, no official mention has been made of that potential project since.

On May 31, the online services for Metal Gear Solid 5 on PS3 and Xbox 360 will also be ending. Whilst the game will still be playable, a slow rollout has meant that the game will come off stores, DLC will no longer be purchasable, and online functionality will cease as well.

In other news, a French retailer has listed the Batman Arkham Collection as coming to Nintendo Switch. The retailer also has a track record of announcing games for the platform before their official announcements.