Konami announced a ballpark release date for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes today. According to a press release and reported by Kotaku, the next chapter in the insane Metal Gear Solid storyline will hit stores (both physical and digital) sometime during Spring next year.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will act as a “prologue” for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Essentially, they’re two parts of the same game, much like Metal Gear Solid 2 was broken up into two chapters, one focusing on Solid Snake, one focusing on the unpleasantness that was MGS 2 Raiden. Of interesting note is how you can buy the game… unless I’m reading the press release wrong, you have the option of physical or digital for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, but PS4 and Xbox One users must get it digitally. There’s also a price difference of $10 between the digital versions of the current-gen and next-gen consoles.
If you’re interested in Metal Gear Solid V at all, series creator Hideo Kojima says Ground Zeroes is an essential purchase:
“There will be a significant difference in what Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain brings to the series, so we want to ease players into the new open world environment and its potential, allowing them to fully benefit from all that the new game offers. As such, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes has been designed to introduce key elements, while setting up the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.”
