Konami closes its Metal Gear Online development studio – update

Publisher Konami may close its development studio in Los Angeles. The location has 35 employees and is responsible for the ongoing development of Metal Gear Online, a multiplayer element of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The news comes from several well-known figures in the gaming industry. George Broussard reports for example on Twitter, but labels it as a rumor. However, it wouldn’t be the first time that the 3DRealms CEO is right about this sort of thing. He in turn probably got his information from Sam Thompson, producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America. He posted a on November 2 tweet. Also anonymous sources of Eurogamer confirm the closure.

Konami has not yet responded to the messages. In addition, it can be seen that there are still vacancies at the studio, which may mean that the messages are incorrect. The studio’s potential closure doesn’t come like a bolt from the blue; Reports from the past few months have already indicated that Konami plans to focus mainly on mobile games and so-called pachinko machines. Metal Gear celebrity Hideo Kojima is also said to have left Konami after unresolvable disagreements between him and the company’s management. Konami itself denies that it is abandoning its franchises, such as Metal Gear and Castlevania, but does not deny that it will only focus on mobile games. The company says Kojima is just on vacation. Horror game Silent Hills, on which the game PT is based, has also been canceled.

Metal Gear Online is available now for the PlayStation 4, but the Windows version is yet to be released in January 2016.

Update, Wednesday, 09:55: Konami has confirmed to Polygon that the studio is closing. The company wants to place its developers “more centralized.” Development and support for Metal Gear Solid V and Metal Gear Online will continue, Konami promises.