While there’s some considerable controversy regarding its content, Konami announced that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes has shipped over 1 million units worldwide. While this figure may sound favorable for Konami and Kojima Productions, the amount only refers to the number of physical copies sent to retailers all over the world. The official sales figures for Ground Zeroes have not been revealed as of this time, however the first half of the Metal Gear Solid V saga was the sixth best-selling title of March. Other titles with better market success during March included Titanfall, Dark Souls II, South Park: The Stick of Truth and InFamous: Second Son.
The initial reveal of Ground Zeroes listed the title as a stand-alone game, though still related to the Big Boss saga within Metal Gear Solid. The Phantom Pain would be the next numbered title in the series, and the only one to bear “Metal Gear Solid V”. During the development process of both games, Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain became two parts of one long, epic tale regarding Big Boss’s- or in this case, “Punished Snake”- fall from grace. The first title would serve as an introductory chapter, with the “true” story of Metal Gear Solid V taking refuge within The Phantom Pain.
Before its release, Kojima Productions stated that one reason for the low price of Ground Zeroes was in regards to the overall length of the main story. As we all know by now, the main mission, “Ground Zeroes”, can be completed in roughly 2 hrs…though several videos show that the mission can be finished with a 10 min. speed-run. Due to the overwhelming amount of outlets swearing by these speed-run videos, many fans were led to believe that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in its entirety was only a 10 min. game, and nowhere near worthy of being $30. While several additional hours of content are unlocked after completing the main “Ground Zeroes” mission, the gaming community has strongly labeled the game as a “cash grabbing demo”.
While they originally released as platform-exclusive extras, it was recently announced that the “Deja Vu” and “Jamais Vu” missions will be made available for the opposite consoles as free DLC on May 1. The much larger half of Metal Gear Solid V, The Phantom Pain is scheduled to release sometime later this year.