Metal Gear Solid Board Game Cancelled, At Least For Now
Remember that Metal Gear Solid board game? Remembering may be all we can ever do. IDW Games, who previously announced they were working with Konami on the creation of a Metal Gear Solid tabletop game, have now abandoned those plans. The most recent news for the game was in August of 2020 when a delay into this year was announced, but IDW seems to have just decided “forget it.”
The Metal Gear Solid board game would have supported up to four players and let you play as iconic characters from the series like Solid Snake. The board game was planned to adapt the stealth gameplay of the games, but it wasn’t always mandatory. You would have several strategy options at your disposal depending on the character you were playing as…you could choose to sneak around guards, or quietly dispatch them. You could use Otacon’s hacking skills to disable lasers, cameras, and reroute the paths of guards. Or you could play as “that ninja” and just slash your way through with your sword.
If you’re one of the people who preordered the Metal Gear Solid board game when IDW offered a Day One Edition….uhh, we have yet to hear of any refunds. Hopefully they’ll do the right thing and avoid a lawsuit.
IDW has chosen to let the MGS license lapse, and it has returned to designer Emerson Matsuuchi, who plans to shop the game around to other publishers. Neither IDW or Matsuuchi will explain exactly WHY the Metal Gear Solid board game was delayed and ultimately cancelled, but Matsuuchi believes he can resurrect the project with the help of “a bonafide expert in licensing [who] has connections with Konami.” We’ll see if that claim has any merit…if not, this could be the last we ever hear of the game.