Jim Piddock, the voice actor of Major Zero in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, has said it will be “Unlikely” that he will be returning for Hideo Kojima’s next installment in the franchise, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
A Twitter user, Khoa Huynh, asked Piddock whether he would be reprising his role as Zero, AKA Cipher, in The Phantom Pain, and the voice actor explained there were conflicting views between himself and the developers of the title when it came down to the “derisory” offer he was presented with.
@Khoawrites Unlikely, unless they increase their derisory offer to slightly less derisory!
— Jim Piddock (@realjimpiddock) November 10, 2014
@Aggrobiscuit Ha! Thanks. Tell the makers of the game not to make Major Zero such an insulting offer and he’ll be there!
— Jim Piddock (@realjimpiddock) December 1, 2014
@JamesA7X_BVB You have no idea :)
— Jim Piddock (@realjimpiddock) December 1, 2014
Piddock will be the latest actor in the English version of the MGS series to not be returning to his iconic character, as David Hayter (Big Boss) and Patric Zimmerman (Revolver Ocelot) have already been ruled out of Kojima’s highly anticipated title.
It was only last month that Kojima had revealed that the Japanese voice actor of Liquid Snake and Major Zero, Banjō Ginga, had started recording his lines for The Phantom Pain — although the exact character he was recording his voice for wasn’t confirmed, of course.
Hideo Kojima is preparing to reveal the multiplayer component for The Phantom Pain, Metal Gear Online, at The Game Awards 2014 this week, and the Japanese developer had already confirmed that the gameplay shown earlier this year at Gamescom of players sneaking into someone’s Mother Base is not part of MGO.
Running on Kojima Productions’ Fox Engine, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will launch in 2015 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.