As a final insult, the phrase 'A Hideo Kojima Game' was erased from MGSV's website, branding and box art. In Kojima Productions' case specifically, Konami separated Hideo Kojima from his team and nearly eliminated internet access for the studio. A report found Konami using cameras to meticulously calculate employees' locations and time spent out on breaks, and chastising them over loud-speaker if late. All the while, they'd also have to contend with Konami's prison-like work policies. Kojima assured fans he'd work on the project until its completion, but the team had imminent dissolution looming overhead.

Whatever the case, Konami's new mobile-first initiative didn't have a place for Kojima Productions. There were talks of power struggles between the publishing conglomerate and Kojima, citing Konami's struggles to keep the creator on budget. Konami's restructure didn't recognize Kojima Productions as regular employees, but instead something more like contract workers. Before long, Kojima and his team were on the chopping block. Konami and Hideo Kojima went through an ugly public breakup after turmoil began growing between the two during MGSV's development. RELATED: No More Heroes Creator Wants to Make a Deadpool Game with Marvel Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain might have been the best Metal Gear game if Konami didn't hold it back. The fallout of Kojima's departure left MGSV, the integral missing link to the series, without some of its vital parts. The company was shifting its focus to mobile game development instead of big titles like Metal Gear and ultimately Kojima, a perfectionist who's very hands-on with his work, butted heads with Konami. The conclusion to Snake's saga was set for disaster as soon as tension began brewing between the series' creator, Hideo Kojima, and his employer, Konami. Unfortunately, the game players got was a best effort to piece together a stealth-action title in the wake of a development upheaval.

As the last true Metal Gear Solid game, Metal Gear Solid V offered the largest, most detailed environments the series ever featured, as well as several fundamental gameplay improvements. With the sixth anniversary of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain approaching, there's no better time than now to look back at the legacy it left behind and everything it could have become.

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