Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes video shows Easter egg referencing Kojima leaving Konami
Hidden sub-mission found with references to bust-up.
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima was aware of an impending split between his studio and publisher Konami, and alluded to it in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, according to a gameplay video posted online.
The footage, which was uploaded to YouTube by user TimeSplitter88, shows Ground Zeroes' Deja Vu Mission, in which players take control of a Metal Gear Solid-era Snake and recreate iconic scenes from the seminal PlayStation title.
It seems, however, there was also a prophetic sub-mission in which the player must find logos for Metal Gear titles from throughout the series' history.
When logos for games directed by Hideo Kojima are found, they are expunged -- a rather haunting prediction of recent events, where Konami removed the Kojima Productions logo from official artwork for The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes and previous titles, as well as references to them being "A Hideo Kojima Game" from marketing material.
Anything not made by Kojima, however, is dismissed by Kaz: "Looks like that's nothing special," he says, when pointing looking at the Metal Gear Acid 2 logo.
Eventually, Kaz delivers a line directly addressing the split and, it would seem, Konami: "You might be able to erase the marking, but the memories will never disappear."
A source close to Kojima Productions told GameSpot in March that Kojima is expected to leave the studio following the completion of The Phantom Pain. It is understood that the team's contracts run until December.
The Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain release date has been set for September 1 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. The PC version is scheduled to arrive two weeks later.