Metal Gear Solid 4 Didn't Come to Xbox Because Hideo Kojima Didn't Want to Port It

05/23/2022 01:24 pm EDT

Ever since it first launched back in 2008, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has been exclusive to PlayStation 3. At the time of its release, many fans assumed that the game was exclusive to PlayStation due to a deal that was worked out between Konami and Sony. However, in light of new information, it seems that this was never the case at all and the only thing that kept the title from coming to Xbox 360 was director Hideo Kojima's own willingness to port it to the platform. 

As mentioned in the book The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2, Sony never struck a deal with Konami to make Metal Gear Solid 4 exclusive to PS3 in any manner. Former Kojima Productions developer Ryan Petton explained in the book that Kojima himself, the director of MGS4 and the creator of the entire Metal Gear franchise, simply didn't want to port the game to Xbox at the time. Had Kojima ever requested to create such a port with his bosses at Konami, this is something that the publisher would have greenlit. Instead, Kojima seemingly just didn't want to work on Xbox at the time. 

While it's a bit funny to look back on this situation nowadays, it's somewhat disappointing that Kojima never opted to bring MGS4 to Xbox 360. At this point in time, the fourth mainline Metal Gear Solid title is completely stranded on PS3, with no easy way to access it other than owning the retro PlayStation console. If Metal Gear Solid 4 would have come to Xbox 360, though, there's a good chance that it would have later been backward compatible on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X. Instead, many fans of the Metal Gear franchise (myself included) are now left requesting a new remaster of MGS4 to make it easier to play in 2022. Whether or not such a port will come about remains to be seen, but if the game would have just been on Xbox in the first place, this situation definitely could have been avoided. 

Would you have liked to see Metal Gear Solid 4 land on Xbox 360 back when it first launched? Let me know your own thoughts on Kojima's decision either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12.

[H/T TheGamer]

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