Back in 2016, Konami announced Metal Gear Survive, an action-adventure, single-player, and co-op zombie survival game set in the Metal Gear universe, but the announcement was met with almost universal criticism and backlash, and many viewed the game as cheap cash-grab. To stir up the controversy even more, not only was Metal Gear Survive pushed back to 2018, but according to the game’s website, the title will require a constant internet connection in order to access the single-player portion of the game.
Although an online connection is an obvious necessity for multiplayer-only titles, a required internet connection for single-player accessible content has long been condemned, and it is a controversy in and of itself. Konami explains the reasoning for their DRM (digital rights management) approach to the game with the following statement:
Metal Gear Survive is composed of two main modes: Single Player and Co-op. Single Player takes you through the story of Metal Gear Survive while learning fundamental gameplay elements. Single Player lets you explore a strange ruined world as you seek answers and a way to return home. These skills will be put to the test in online Co-op mode. Progress and rewards obtained in both Single Player and Co-op mode carry over and apply to your character across both modes.
At face value, it seems like the online-only restrictions are in place as an anti-piracy measure, but it could also be in place to prevent cheating in the single-player mode and make it harder for those cheaters to bring illegitimate content over to co-op. Others, however, theorize that the required internet connection might be in place to enable microtransactions within the game. Nothing has been confirmed, however, and gamers will need to wait a little longer before any more information comes to light before figuring out any ulterior motives.
Despite the multiple controversies surrounding the game, Metal Gear Survive is expected to launch on February 20th of next year for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.