Following years of user warfare and Mother Base heists, the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain nuclear disarmament secret event was prematurely triggered this weekend. This secret ending was set to play only when all nuclear weapons are dismantled by players, which proved to be a near impossible task when accounting for arms hoarders and hackers. This ending triggered suddenly regardless of countless nuclear weapons still existing within the game to the surprise of players, and Konami acknowledging this as an error.
The nuclear disarmament secret ending was first discovered when dataminers delved into the game’s file to uncover a hidden cutscene that no one could trigger within the game. In this scene, Big Boss, Kazuhira Miller, and their mercenary cohorts exclaim that all the nukes around the world have been disarmed. The option to build nukes within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is available to any player who reaches a certain point, but discouraged through the in-game Heroism mechanic that determines player’s “morality.” If players do build nukes, they are added to their bases stockpile, which other players can attempt to steal from for their own use or potential disarmament. Given the context of the dialogue in this cutscene, fans theorized that disarming every nukes would trigger this event, with players working towards that goal since this discovery in 2015.
After the initial cutscene trigger last Friday, Konami has stated that the fan theory was accurate, while the triggering was a mistake. It was confirmed that the event was meant to trigger when the nuke count reached zero, although there were still various live nukes by the time this event launched. Konami’s most recent count of players’ arsenals took place during the end of last month, and showed that there were still over 7,000 nuclear weapons for players to disarm.
Currently, the reason for this cutscene launching is unknown to Konami, and an investigation is taking place.