Metal Gear Solid 5 Will Shut Down PS3 & Xbox 360 Servers Next Year

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will terminate its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 servers next year, according to Konami. That means that come 2022, both console groups will no longer be able to access DLC or make additional purchases. Of course, the base game will still be very much playable post-closure, though that's about as much as Konami will let loose. The rest of the perks that bolt to it, however, will latch onto later consoles, mainly the PS4 and Xbox One.

So, when will we start seeing the Metal Gear world stripped for parts? Well, to put it simply — November 30th. At least that's when Metal Gear Online DLC will cease trading for good. Following on from that, March 1st will see out the departure of the game on both the Microsoft and PlayStation Stores. And then, to close the book altogether, Metal Gear Solid V's servers will shut down entirely on May 31st. So, that basically means we've got nine months before the hourglass procures its final grain.

It's a ticking time bomb, so to speak

Looking back at the overall sales from Metal Gear Solid V, it seems only natural for Konami to pull the plug on the ex-gen releases. Seeing as the fifth chapter launched around the same time as both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was preparing to round off their portfolios, the game actually didn't land too well on either. Instead, the majority of sales found themselves being bolted to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, both harnessing tremendous figures by 2015.

With all of this being said, it's only natural for a video game to reach the bitter end of its life cycle. But that isn't to say that Konami's beloved Metal Gear franchise is going anywhere soon. It's just that, well — it's pretty much set on abandoning one of its many homes. Come 2025, and perhaps the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One servers will shut their doors also. But we're probably getting slightly ahead of ourselves on that one.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain released on September 1st 2015. You can follow the updates for the game over on Konami's official social handle here.