Konami has announced that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain could be released as late as December 2015 or as early as October 2014.
The game's launch will be determined by "the development stage," according to Konami. Analyst David Gibson, who attended a Konami conference call, said on Twitter:
Konami admitting Ground Zeroes is a bit short, MGS5 could be released in FY3/2015 or FY3/2016 depending on the development stage
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) February 6, 2014
The fiscal year ends on March 31st meaning that quarter three 2015 covers the period October to December 2014 while quarter three 2016 would see The Phantom Pain released between October and December 2015.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, which launches next month, has been criticised for its duration of two hours and while Konami may have admitted that it is short Hideo Kojima has defended the game's length saying:
“Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes includes the main mission alongside five side ops. This is not a linear game like [in] the past. Ground Zeroes offers freedom of approach and play style, which we hope players will enjoy over and over again without boring [them].
“I believe people will be satisfied with the play time of Ground Zeroes and will not stress the Clear Time, which is a standard for linear games.”
Ground Zeroes is designed as a prequel to The Phantom Pain which Kojima says will be "hundreds of times bigger."
