Konami Removing Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 from Digital Stores to Renew Archival Licenses

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater are being temporarily removed from digital storefronts (such as for the PlayStation3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS) while Konami works on renewing their licenses for historic archival footage used in the games. These games will be pulled from global online stores starting today, Nov. 8, 2021, but Konami is working to renew the licenses and bring the games back. In the meantime, there’s always secondhand hard copies from online retailers and your local used game store.

The series which defines itself as “Tactical Espionage Action” has used Cold War settings and the fear of nuclear warfare and mass destruction as themes to motivate stories about deterrence, military-industrial complexes, and the myth of heroism.

Therefore, having historically accurate and precise videos to draw from is helpful for immersing the player in the story. But it’s something Konami turned away from in the transition from the PS2 to PS3 generations. Therefore, most of the Metal Gear Solid franchise is still available.

Metal Gear games set in the Cold War as sequels to 3 that aren’t being taken down from digital stores include Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (both originally PSP exclusives presently available on the Vita); as well as Metal Gear Solid 5. : The Phantom Pain, and its prequel Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, set after Sons of Liberty are also not listed as being removed from stores.

The full list of products to be temporarily removed:
PlayStation 3
Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty HD Edition
Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater HD Edition
Metal Gear Solid HD Edition

PlayStation Vita
Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty HD Edition
Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater HD Edition
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

PlayStation Now
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Xbox 360
Metal Gear Solid HD Edition: 2 & 3

Nintendo 3DS
Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D

GOG.com
Metal Gear Solid 2 Subsistence

Nvidia Shield
Metal Gear Solid 2 HD for SHIELD TV
Metal Gear Solid 3 HD for SHIELD TV